Steven Lowette
@stevenlowette.bsky.social
Research prof at VUBrussel on the CMS, milliQan and Formosa experiments at CERN - Dark Matter and exotics.
I don't like to tweet much on this topic, but... mind blown.
Pretty convincing evidence here that the Trump administration was planning to jailbreak and provide asylum for Bolsonaro -- and that Trump inadvertently revealed the plan.
And this, as the now-cliche goes, would have been a paralyzing scandal for any other administration.
And this, as the now-cliche goes, would have been a paralyzing scandal for any other administration.
Trump appears to blurt out secret plan, not knowing it's already a bust
YouTube video by MS NOW
www.youtube.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:29 PM
I don't like to tweet much on this topic, but... mind blown.
Interesting how this blew up Twitter style...
Fanning the flames: as a cyclist in Belgium you're considered a vehicle in traffic, so also drunk driving laws apply to you, even in a way that you can (in theory) lose your *car* driving license for drunk driving a bike.
Fanning the flames: as a cyclist in Belgium you're considered a vehicle in traffic, so also drunk driving laws apply to you, even in a way that you can (in theory) lose your *car* driving license for drunk driving a bike.
Where I live you lose your driving license 15 days plus a 174 EUR fine (if paid on the spot), when caught. The chance of getting caught is low and it still leads to too many accidents, but at least it's not endemic behavior.
The same fine applies to cyclists, btw, in principle.
The same fine applies to cyclists, btw, in principle.
November 21, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Interesting how this blew up Twitter style...
Fanning the flames: as a cyclist in Belgium you're considered a vehicle in traffic, so also drunk driving laws apply to you, even in a way that you can (in theory) lose your *car* driving license for drunk driving a bike.
Fanning the flames: as a cyclist in Belgium you're considered a vehicle in traffic, so also drunk driving laws apply to you, even in a way that you can (in theory) lose your *car* driving license for drunk driving a bike.
The heating in (most of) our offices/meeting rooms has a problem...
November 21, 2025 at 3:59 PM
The heating in (most of) our offices/meeting rooms has a problem...
Reposted by Steven Lowette
There are about 400 photons and 300 neutrinos in every cubic cm of the Universe left over from the Big Bang 🧪
Man, everything is so bleak, anyone got a fun fact or little bit of trivia they want to share
November 21, 2025 at 12:41 PM
There are about 400 photons and 300 neutrinos in every cubic cm of the Universe left over from the Big Bang 🧪
De speld ftw! Over het waarom van drones over België...
Poetin: ‘Vliegen met drones over België vanwege slecht wegdek’
YouTube video by De Speld
youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:45 AM
De speld ftw! Over het waarom van drones over België...
JUNO is taking data only since 2 months, and they have already measured the solar neutrino oscillation parameters theta_12 and Deltam_12^2 with world-leading precision:
arxiv.org/abs/2511.14593
Congrats in particular to my ULB colleagues involved!
arxiv.org/abs/2511.14593
Congrats in particular to my ULB colleagues involved!
First measurement of reactor neutrino oscillations at JUNO
Neutrino oscillations, a quantum effect manifesting at macroscopic scales, are governed by lepton flavor mixing angles and neutrino mass-squared differences that are fundamental parameters of particle...
arxiv.org
November 20, 2025 at 10:33 AM
JUNO is taking data only since 2 months, and they have already measured the solar neutrino oscillation parameters theta_12 and Deltam_12^2 with world-leading precision:
arxiv.org/abs/2511.14593
Congrats in particular to my ULB colleagues involved!
arxiv.org/abs/2511.14593
Congrats in particular to my ULB colleagues involved!
Eentje om in de schuif te bewaren voor een latere "that didn't age well"
November 20, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Eentje om in de schuif te bewaren voor een latere "that didn't age well"
Academic colleagues: when you invite a seminar speaker, what do you provide them?
I assume you cover for travel and accommodation.
But do you also have some fee to "pay" for their service? Or do you take the speaker out for lunch/dinner? Other?
#blskyneedspolls
I assume you cover for travel and accommodation.
But do you also have some fee to "pay" for their service? Or do you take the speaker out for lunch/dinner? Other?
#blskyneedspolls
November 19, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Academic colleagues: when you invite a seminar speaker, what do you provide them?
I assume you cover for travel and accommodation.
But do you also have some fee to "pay" for their service? Or do you take the speaker out for lunch/dinner? Other?
#blskyneedspolls
I assume you cover for travel and accommodation.
But do you also have some fee to "pay" for their service? Or do you take the speaker out for lunch/dinner? Other?
#blskyneedspolls
😂
![Comic. [Person with ponytail pointing at diagram while speaking to three other people] PERSON: If the emergency stop is activated, any riders on the waterslide will be diverted into the beam dump, a large graphite block which will safely absorb their momentum. [caption] We regretted hiring an accelerator physicist to design our water park.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreicnzdnpjdz4clfa2uhx6isbdwgu72oku5pee4av7paavbjmqpyoiu@jpeg)
November 18, 2025 at 6:56 AM
😂
Every day conference and journal scams... I don't understand how this keeps being a profitable business, by now we (and span filters) are all trained to recognize it.
November 18, 2025 at 6:49 AM
Every day conference and journal scams... I don't understand how this keeps being a profitable business, by now we (and span filters) are all trained to recognize it.
This brings hope. Malaria is one of the most deadly diseases in the world.
November 14, 2025 at 3:56 PM
This brings hope. Malaria is one of the most deadly diseases in the world.
Postdoc application eligibility rules at our funding agency FWO provide only a 1-year time credit for maternity/paternity/sickness/... leave if it was more than 3 months.
Ridiculous. _At least_ give credit for the absence time if smaller than 3 months? But no...
Ridiculous. _At least_ give credit for the absence time if smaller than 3 months? But no...
November 13, 2025 at 11:03 AM
Postdoc application eligibility rules at our funding agency FWO provide only a 1-year time credit for maternity/paternity/sickness/... leave if it was more than 3 months.
Ridiculous. _At least_ give credit for the absence time if smaller than 3 months? But no...
Ridiculous. _At least_ give credit for the absence time if smaller than 3 months? But no...
Komt dat zien!
Zaterdag starten we een bijzondere concertreeks van een bijzonder orkest.
(met ook mijn eigen kleine bijdrage tussen de tros violen)
Zaterdag starten we een bijzondere concertreeks van een bijzonder orkest.
(met ook mijn eigen kleine bijdrage tussen de tros violen)
Dirigent Jurgen Wayenberg neemt afscheid van het VUBorkest
"Het orkest speelt een belangrijke rol in het uitdragen van de waarden van de VUB”
www.vub.be
November 13, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Komt dat zien!
Zaterdag starten we een bijzondere concertreeks van een bijzonder orkest.
(met ook mijn eigen kleine bijdrage tussen de tros violen)
Zaterdag starten we een bijzondere concertreeks van een bijzonder orkest.
(met ook mijn eigen kleine bijdrage tussen de tros violen)
Dit weekend is mijn viool tijdens onze 4-daagse repetitie omgestoten. Een stom accidentje, maar de stapel was verschoven, en dit behoefde professionele herstelling. Zondag nog binnen gebracht, en vanmorgen heb ik ze al terug, gerepareerd, enkele lijmnaden hersteld, en opgekuisd. Me = happy 😊
November 12, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Dit weekend is mijn viool tijdens onze 4-daagse repetitie omgestoten. Een stom accidentje, maar de stapel was verschoven, en dit behoefde professionele herstelling. Zondag nog binnen gebracht, en vanmorgen heb ik ze al terug, gerepareerd, enkele lijmnaden hersteld, en opgekuisd. Me = happy 😊
Wel tof, zo wat werken in een Spaans parkje bij 23 graden. Gisteren leuke (late) avond met oude bekenden en nieuwe ontmoetingen; vanmorgen babbeltje gegeven; straks koffie op terras; en dan hop naar huis. En morgen weer muziek. #lavieestbelle
November 7, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Wel tof, zo wat werken in een Spaans parkje bij 23 graden. Gisteren leuke (late) avond met oude bekenden en nieuwe ontmoetingen; vanmorgen babbeltje gegeven; straks koffie op terras; en dan hop naar huis. En morgen weer muziek. #lavieestbelle
Reposted by Steven Lowette
🚨 New LHC record 🚨
The Large Hadron Collider produced more collisions in 2025 than in any previous year!
The Large Hadron Collider produced more collisions in 2025 than in any previous year!
November 4, 2025 at 11:26 AM
🚨 New LHC record 🚨
The Large Hadron Collider produced more collisions in 2025 than in any previous year!
The Large Hadron Collider produced more collisions in 2025 than in any previous year!
Something I wholeheartedly endorse: the letter of intent for the Forward Physics Facility at the HL-LHC:
arxiv.org/abs/2510.26260
It's a bargain really, for the amount of interesting physics we already foresee and maybe will still come up with.
arxiv.org/abs/2510.26260
It's a bargain really, for the amount of interesting physics we already foresee and maybe will still come up with.
Letter of Intent: The Forward Physics Facility
The Forward Physics Facility (FPF) is a proposed extension of the HL-LHC program designed to exploit the unique scientific opportunities offered by the intense flux of high energy neutrinos, and possi...
arxiv.org
October 31, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Something I wholeheartedly endorse: the letter of intent for the Forward Physics Facility at the HL-LHC:
arxiv.org/abs/2510.26260
It's a bargain really, for the amount of interesting physics we already foresee and maybe will still come up with.
arxiv.org/abs/2510.26260
It's a bargain really, for the amount of interesting physics we already foresee and maybe will still come up with.
This is insane. Many of the smartest scientists the US managed to attract, are on H1B visa. Several of my colleagues are.
Florida's governor is telling public universities to stop hiring anyone on a H-1B visa. Expect other red states to follow suit.
Florida’s Public Universities Should No Longer Hire Foreign Employees, DeSantis Says
The Republican governor’s directive on H-1B visas comes as President Trump has initiated his policy of charging employers a new $100,000 fee to hire people from outside the United States.
www.chronicle.com
October 30, 2025 at 12:51 PM
This is insane. Many of the smartest scientists the US managed to attract, are on H1B visa. Several of my colleagues are.
Correct.
Just a reminder that as America shuts down its scientific endeavors, nowhere else on the planet is ramping up their own. It is not just that Americans are going to lose the gains that scientific research can bring, the world as a whole is going to be poorer for it.
October 30, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Correct.
Inchecken is net iets anders met een automatisch vertaald formulier.
October 29, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Inchecken is net iets anders met een automatisch vertaald formulier.
"Water staat ons aan de lippen": universiteiten willen inschrijvingsgeld met 150 euro verhogen
vrtnws.be/p.xZpJbbo9R
vrtnws.be/p.xZpJbbo9R
"Water staat ons aan de lippen": universiteiten willen inschrijvingsgeld met 150 euro verhogen | VRT NWS: nieuws
Vlaamse rectoren trekken aan de alarmbel, nu de Vlaamse regering heeft beslist om opnieuw flink te besparen op hoger onderwijs. Vooral de universiteiten moeten flink beknibbelen: net geen 35 miljoen e...
vrtnws.be
October 28, 2025 at 7:20 PM
"Water staat ons aan de lippen": universiteiten willen inschrijvingsgeld met 150 euro verhogen
vrtnws.be/p.xZpJbbo9R
vrtnws.be/p.xZpJbbo9R
Reposted by Steven Lowette
Finally the rumours become public: The CEPC Chinese collider project is on hold.
cerncourier.com/a/cepc-matur...
cerncourier.com/a/cepc-matur...
October 26, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Finally the rumours become public: The CEPC Chinese collider project is on hold.
cerncourier.com/a/cepc-matur...
cerncourier.com/a/cepc-matur...
I know my limitations, there's a lot of stuff I'm not really good at, also in my job.
But one thing I'm pretty good at, is to have a nose for weird statistical behavior that could point to a bug (and it often does).
#ijustdiditagain
But one thing I'm pretty good at, is to have a nose for weird statistical behavior that could point to a bug (and it often does).
#ijustdiditagain
October 28, 2025 at 2:48 PM
I know my limitations, there's a lot of stuff I'm not really good at, also in my job.
But one thing I'm pretty good at, is to have a nose for weird statistical behavior that could point to a bug (and it often does).
#ijustdiditagain
But one thing I'm pretty good at, is to have a nose for weird statistical behavior that could point to a bug (and it often does).
#ijustdiditagain
Talking this morning in the closing session of the international linear collider workshop.
What a lineup 🤩
What a lineup 🤩
October 24, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Talking this morning in the closing session of the international linear collider workshop.
What a lineup 🤩
What a lineup 🤩