Jean-Luc Margot
@jeanlucmargot.bsky.social
Planetary astronomer 📡 and UCLA professor. Interested in dynamics, geophysics, SETI 👽.
https://seti.ucla.edu/jlm
https://seti.ucla.edu/jlm
Carl Sagan was born on this day. Reflections on his legacy:
theconversation.com/carl-sagans-...
theconversation.com/carl-sagans-...
Carl Sagan’s scientific legacy extends far beyond ‘Cosmos’
On what would’ve been the astronomer’s 90th trip around the Sun, here’s a look at his legacy as a scientist, advocate and communicator.
theconversation.com
November 9, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Carl Sagan was born on this day. Reflections on his legacy:
theconversation.com/carl-sagans-...
theconversation.com/carl-sagans-...
Today from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm, UCLA is hosting its largest science fair for K-12, with nearly 70 interactive science booths staffed by real scientists. Admission is free and open to the public. Map: exploringyouruniverse.ucla.edu/booth-map/
November 2, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Today from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm, UCLA is hosting its largest science fair for K-12, with nearly 70 interactive science booths staffed by real scientists. Admission is free and open to the public. Map: exploringyouruniverse.ucla.edu/booth-map/
Requiring an insecure back door to faculty computers is one of the worst ideas at the University of California.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
University of California faculty push back against Big Brother cybersecurity mandate
School officials defend software as bulwark against ransomware, but professors fear potential surveillance of their devices
www.science.org
October 24, 2025 at 5:35 AM
Requiring an insecure back door to faculty computers is one of the worst ideas at the University of California.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
I had a great time on the Search for Life panel sponsored by the UCLA Space Institute yesterday. I described four advantages of the search for technosignatures: cost, search volume, certainty of interpretation, and potential information content. arxiv.org/abs/1903.05544
The radio search for technosignatures in the decade 2020-2030
Advancing the scientific frontier in the search for life in the universe requires support of searches for both biosignatures and technosignatures. A modest budgetary increment can expand the search fo...
arxiv.org
October 22, 2025 at 10:24 PM
I had a great time on the Search for Life panel sponsored by the UCLA Space Institute yesterday. I described four advantages of the search for technosignatures: cost, search volume, certainty of interpretation, and potential information content. arxiv.org/abs/1903.05544
We discussed planetary atmospheres and climate change this week in my Science in the Movies class, with an assist from The Day After Tomorrow (2004).
October 22, 2025 at 10:17 PM
We discussed planetary atmospheres and climate change this week in my Science in the Movies class, with an assist from The Day After Tomorrow (2004).
This week in Science in the Movies, I showed three scenes from Jon Amiel's The Core (2003) to illustrate planetary interior properties.
October 14, 2025 at 4:57 PM
This week in Science in the Movies, I showed three scenes from Jon Amiel's The Core (2003) to illustrate planetary interior properties.
Dr. Fred Ramsdell (UCLA PhD 1987) is the ninth UCLA alum to receive a Nobel prize. Eight UCLA faculty have also earned the prize.
October 7, 2025 at 5:16 AM
Dr. Fred Ramsdell (UCLA PhD 1987) is the ninth UCLA alum to receive a Nobel prize. Eight UCLA faculty have also earned the prize.
This unflattering opinion of Brussels is hard to reconcile with my monthlong stays there in 2024 and 2025.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...
Opinion | My City Is the Heart of Europe, and It’s Not Doing Well
www.nytimes.com
October 6, 2025 at 1:18 PM
This unflattering opinion of Brussels is hard to reconcile with my monthlong stays there in 2024 and 2025.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...
It felt like extortion when federal grants to UCLA were suspended. This NYT opinion piece reinforces the feeling.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...
Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion
www.nytimes.com
October 3, 2025 at 1:53 PM
It felt like extortion when federal grants to UCLA were suspended. This NYT opinion piece reinforces the feeling.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...
I had the privilege of presenting a brief report on UCLA SETI activities at the annual IAA SETI Committee meeting yesterday, with updates to the search volume values in our paper bit.ly/AJ23
October 1, 2025 at 10:01 PM
I had the privilege of presenting a brief report on UCLA SETI activities at the annual IAA SETI Committee meeting yesterday, with updates to the search volume values in our paper bit.ly/AJ23
The first week of my class Science in the Movies went well. Lots of fun demos and a few scenes from the movie Gravity to illustrate Newton's laws.
October 1, 2025 at 9:26 PM
The first week of my class Science in the Movies went well. Lots of fun demos and a few scenes from the movie Gravity to illustrate Newton's laws.
Science Magazine – NSF held captive
www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...
www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...
Science Magazine - NSF held captive
In April, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced its latest class of graduate research fellows, a storied program dating from the agency’s earliest days that has fueled the careers of 50...
www.sciencemagazinedigital.org
September 26, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Science Magazine – NSF held captive
www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...
www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...
The Evpatoria radio telescope was used in occasional planetary radar studies, including the detection of asteroid Golevka (Gol-Ev-Ka), named after three radio telescopes.
www.space.com/astronomy/dr...
www.space.com/astronomy/dr...
September 19, 2025 at 1:19 PM
The Evpatoria radio telescope was used in occasional planetary radar studies, including the detection of asteroid Golevka (Gol-Ev-Ka), named after three radio telescopes.
www.space.com/astronomy/dr...
www.space.com/astronomy/dr...
Reposted by Jean-Luc Margot
Venus is a Solar System enigma.
Although Venus is similar in size and distance from the Sun to Earth, it has evolved very differently from our planet.
Our #Envision mission will aim to solve some of the puzzle by thoroughly studying our closest neighbour.
www.esa.int/Science_Expl... 🔭
Although Venus is similar in size and distance from the Sun to Earth, it has evolved very differently from our planet.
Our #Envision mission will aim to solve some of the puzzle by thoroughly studying our closest neighbour.
www.esa.int/Science_Expl... 🔭
Top five Venus mysteries Envision will solve
Venus is a Solar System enigma. Similar in size to Earth and orbiting the Sun at a similar distance, it is remarkable how the two planets evolved so differently. While conditions on Earth allowed life...
www.esa.int
September 12, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Venus is a Solar System enigma.
Although Venus is similar in size and distance from the Sun to Earth, it has evolved very differently from our planet.
Our #Envision mission will aim to solve some of the puzzle by thoroughly studying our closest neighbour.
www.esa.int/Science_Expl... 🔭
Although Venus is similar in size and distance from the Sun to Earth, it has evolved very differently from our planet.
Our #Envision mission will aim to solve some of the puzzle by thoroughly studying our closest neighbour.
www.esa.int/Science_Expl... 🔭
Basic astronomy lesson courtesy of the New York Times
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Your Zodiac Sign Is 2,000 Years Out of Date (Gift Article)
Over millennia, our view of the stars has shifted, because of Earth’s wobble. It may be time to rethink your sign.
www.nytimes.com
September 8, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Basic astronomy lesson courtesy of the New York Times
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Jean-Luc Margot
It should never be easier to access a gun than a vaccine.
August 29, 2025 at 7:52 PM
It should never be easier to access a gun than a vaccine.
“They’re afraid that basic knowledge will expose their false claims.” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/31/s...
Historians See Autocratic Playbook in Trump’s Attacks on Science
www.nytimes.com
August 31, 2025 at 2:32 PM
“They’re afraid that basic knowledge will expose their false claims.” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/31/s...
This excellent piece describes the deceptive practices used by quacks to advance false claims. Beware! www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Opinion | The Playbook Used to ‘Prove’ Vaccines Cause Autism (Gift Article)
Data can easily be manipulated to show a causation that doesn’t exist.
www.nytimes.com
August 19, 2025 at 11:33 AM
This excellent piece describes the deceptive practices used by quacks to advance false claims. Beware! www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Jean-Luc Margot
David Grinspoon confirms that his term appointment as NASA's Senior Scientist for Astrobiology Strategy will not be renewed and the position itself is being eliminated. He'll participate in Wednesday's Astrobiology Update (which is listed on our Calendar).
August 18, 2025 at 2:05 PM
David Grinspoon confirms that his term appointment as NASA's Senior Scientist for Astrobiology Strategy will not be renewed and the position itself is being eliminated. He'll participate in Wednesday's Astrobiology Update (which is listed on our Calendar).
Los Angeles Times op-ed from colleague Steven Furlanetto
enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/art...
enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/art...
The true cost of abandoning science
The true cost of abandoning science
enewspaper.latimes.com
August 7, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Los Angeles Times op-ed from colleague Steven Furlanetto
enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/art...
enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/art...
Good conversation about the position in which US universities find themselves:
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/o...
Opinion | Universities Have Woken Up to Find They’re in Bed With an Ogre
www.nytimes.com
August 6, 2025 at 7:55 AM
Good conversation about the position in which US universities find themselves:
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/o...