Reposted by Ian FosterPrasad Jallepalli, MD, PhD @prasad.bsky.social · 29/09/20265 potatoes cubed is still 5 potatoes because potatoes are root vegetables 783501877
Reposted by Ian FosterThe Whimsical Muse @whimsicalmuse.bsky.social · 23/09/2026At the end of the day, don’t we all just want to read books, drink tea, and eat pastries in a humble seaside cottage during a raging storm? 2960452
Ian Foster @ianfoster42.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas birdsnfrogs.github.io/2026/09/12/F...birdsnfrogs.github.ioHappy, those able to know the causes of things 000
Reposted by Ian FosterGlobus Labs @globuslabs.bsky.social · 01/09/2026AI agents are showing up everywhere in science right now, but deploying them on real research infrastructure presents unique challenges: e.g., federated authentication, restrictive networks, diverse compute, and systems that aren't always up. Paper: doi.org/10.2139/ssrn... 123
Reposted by Ian FosterCanadian History Ehx @cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Before Europeans arrived, these were some of the names for The Great Lakes: Superior: gichi-gami (great sea) Erie: erielhonan (long tail) Michigan: michigami (long body of water) Ontario: Ontarí'io\kanadario (great lake\beautiful water) Huron: karegnondi (fresh water sea) 293121264191
Reposted by Ian FosterData Science Institute @dsi-uchicago.bsky.social · 26/08/2026AI weather forecasts could help millions of farmers in developing economies decide when to plant, harvest, and protect their crops 🌍 @beccawillett.bsky.social, Nobel laureate Michael Kremer, @pedramh.bsky.social, & @ianfoster42.bsky.social won a Laude Institute Moonshots grant to make it happenyoutu.beAdvancing Actionable AI Weather Forecasts for Developing Economies | @UChicago + @LaudeInstitute 014
Reposted by Ian FosterBetter Things Are Possible @internethippo.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Let me get this straight. Sometimes a famous person dies and everyone is nice about it? Merely because of their deeds during life? 51157502525
Reposted by Ian FosterLIA 福振凡 🇺🇳🇨🇳🇺🇸 @fuzhenfan.bsky.social · 29/07/2026Ever wonder what a summer in Chicago would look like? (As I post this from one of the offices) 91048
Reposted by Ian FosterGlobus Labs @globuslabs.bsky.social · 18/08/2026Congratulations to Dr. J. Gregory Pauloski on winning the SIGHPC 2026 Doctoral Dissertation Award for his dissertation, "Programming the Continuum: Towards Better Techniques for Developing Distributed Science Applications"! 🎉 www.sighpc.org/opportunitie...sighpc.orgMeeting Your Needs - 2026 Award WinnerDr. J. Gregory Pauloski,a graduate of the University of Chicago Recognized for his dissertation "Programming the Continuum: Towards Better Techniques for Developing Distributed Science Applications” ... 021
Reposted by Ian FosterBen Blaiszik @benblaiszik.bsky.social · 18/08/2026The LLM Hackathon for Applications in Materials and Chemistry is now the Open Scientific Intelligence Hackathon, and our next event will be Oct 21–22, 2026! 🗓️ Oct 21–22 📍 Hybrid, online, in-person sites TBA As always, the event is free, hybrid, and worldwide. Register here llmhackathon.github.io 121
Reposted by Ian FosterAdmirable Women @admirablewomen.bsky.social · 17/08/2026Computer scientist Margaret Hamilton coined the term “software engineer.” She directed the Software Engineering Division at MIT’s Instrumentation Lab & led development of the on-board flight software for NASA’s Apollo Guidance Computer. She was born #OTD in 1936 & turns 90 today! #WomenInSTEM 145101562360
Ian Foster @ianfoster42.bsky.social · 17/08/2026“The first rule is to assume that what you are reading might be fraudulent.” Sigh. But true. 000
Reposted by Ian FosterGlobus Labs @globuslabs.bsky.social · 13/08/2026Congrats to @kylechard.bsky.social and @benblaiszik.bsky.social on being a part of the new NSF Materials Innovation Platforms at @uwmadison.bsky.social! The initiative will advance materials research through AI, automation, and expand access to cutting-edge facilities. www.nsf.gov/news/nsf-sta...nsf.govNSF stands up 2 Materials Innovation Platforms with $50M investmentThe U.S. National Science Foundation is investing $50 million in research infrastructure to enable the discovery and development of materials that can withstand extreme conditions, from lightweight… 031
Reposted by Ian FosterMelanie Mitchell @melaniemitchell.bsky.social · 02/08/2026I'm just now reading @randomwalker.bsky.social's writeup of his ICML keynote. It is very insightful. Everyone thinking about the future of work in the age of AI should read this. www.normaltech.ai/p/what-will-...normaltech.aiWhat will be left for us to work on?My keynote at ICML 2026 39120
Reposted by Ian FosterWarless Goddess @warlessgoddess.bsky.social · 01/08/2026Jeanne Gibson, one of the last surviving Rosie the Riveters, died on July 29, 2026. She was 100 Years old. Born in Minneapolis in 1926, she was only 18 when she moved to Seattle to weld U.S. Navy destroyers at Todd Pacific Shipyards. Rest in peace, Jeanne 2896012114
Reposted by Ian FosterMichael Tobis (mt) @mtobis.bsky.social · 30/07/2026Also spending more time with books again. Here's my three cents: - Read books on paper. - About two thirds of what I read is over 15 years old; consider books from other times. Used bookstores contain gems. - If you dropped a book some time ago, give it another look. You might like it better now. 041
Reposted by Ian FosterKate Klonick @klonick.bsky.social · 28/07/2026Sat down to write about the Hugging Face/AI incident. Ended up drawing this instead. 19553160
Reposted by Ian FosterCosta Samaras @costasamaras.com · 19/07/2026Could Excel be conscious? We surveyed more than Jan 1 1900 people to find out. 114137722879
Reposted by Ian FosterSarah T Roberts, PhD @ubiquity75.xyz · 17/07/2026Recommending the Laura Poitras documentary on Sy Hersh, for those who’d like to know about the relationship the New York Times has to the powerful, for one. www.netflix.com/us/title/821...netflix.comWatch Cover-Up | Netflix Official SiteHe's devoted his career to uncovering stories the powerful want buried. From My Lai to Abu Ghraib, dig into the life's work of journalist Seymour Hersh. 0196
Reposted by Ian FosterSimon Kuestenmacher @simongerman600.bsky.social · 11/07/2026One way of seeing climate change in action is looking at 1200 year continuous data from Japan about cherry tree blossoming. 014681
Reposted by Ian FosterPaul Bassett Davies @thewritertype.bsky.social · 08/07/2026America and Iran should sort out their diaries and publish a schedule indicating which days a war is on and which days are a ceasefire. It would make everyone's admin so much easier. 2223
Reposted by Ian FosterData Science Institute @dsi-uchicago.bsky.social · 02/07/2026Are you a computational scientist interested in applying AI and machine learning to support climate science research? The Research Computing Center is looking for an AI/ML Engineer to support faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students conducting computational and AI-driven research 🔗👇 111
Ian Foster @ianfoster42.bsky.social · 30/06/2026People have lovely slides now thanks to AI but they all look similar. I remember when every speaker had their own style of handwritten slides. Like this 😀 050
Reposted by Ian FosterAdam Steinbaugh @adamsteinbaugh.bsky.social · 28/06/2026After federal agents shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, a New Yorker sent ICE's director an email in January comparing him to a Nazi. This week, DHS agents stalked him across New York. His home. A hotel. They gave his wife a letter warning of criminal prosecution. www.syracuse.com/news/2026/06... 21057902594
Reposted by Ian FosterDr Michele V @micheleveldsman.bsky.social · 25/06/2026“I have done all of the things that one is supposed to do to earn a tenure-track position. And I have done approximately 85% of them by typing prompts into a large language model and then moderately editing the output.” 🤣🤣🤣 brilliant 👌🏽 open.substack.com/pub/inprepar...open.substack.comOpinion: I Was Not Allowed To Type Prompts Into ChatGPT During My Chalk Talk And This Is DiscriminationBy Dr. Rachel Simmons, Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University 26505166
Reposted by Ian Fostereustace @eustace.justshootme.ca · 25/06/2026This book hits me right in the childhood. I found this at a local bookstore. I was on my way out the door and just happened to catch a glimpse of it in the corner of my eye. Everyone should read this book immediately. 1901955177
Reposted by Ian FosterPaul Bassett Davies @thewritertype.bsky.social · 21/06/2026Yes, it's the longest day of the year but luckily it's also the narrowest day, so don’t worry about the risk of awkward gaps in the space time continuum. It’s taken care of. 3263
Reposted by Ian FosterPrisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 20/06/2026This is the legal defense fund for the 15 anti-ICE organizers who were recently arrested in Minneapolis. Please contribute generously. They are going to have millions of dollars worth of needs. chuffed.org/project/1865...chuffed.orgLegal Defense Fund for MN Anti-ICE OrganizersOn the morning of June 16th 2026 fifteen anti-ICE organizers were indicted on federal conspiracy charges in Minnesota, 12 of whom were arrested in aggressive raids across the Twin Cities. This fundrai... 121068870
Reposted by Ian FosterJohn Small @smalltorquer.bsky.social · 20/06/2026Great recognition for the R development team at UoAuckland stats dept. Ross Ihaka & Robert Gentlemen changed the world.... phys.org/news/2026-06...phys.orgNew Zealand scientists working on 'R' win major global awardScientists working on the revolutionary 'R' programming language invented at the University of Auckland have won a top award intended to be a Nobel Prize for statisticians. 210634
Reposted by Ian FosterRae Radford @raeradford.bsky.social · 19/06/2026What a fantastic idea! #BookSky 1314721
Reposted by Ian FosterCarl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 18/06/2026Trump Administration Backs Off Plan to End Ocean Monitoring. Gift link: nyti.ms/4oC3U25nyti.ms 38929
Ian Foster @ianfoster42.bsky.social · 18/06/2026For example see geneticliteracyproject.org/2025/06/25/v...geneticliteracyproject.orgViewpoint: RFK, Jr. wrongly demonizes the safe and effective HPV vaccine Gardasilhile HHS Secretary Kennedy frets over food dye in Froot Loops, his 2023 attack on Gardasil — a vaccine proven to prevent deadly cancers — reveals a 000
Reposted by Ian FosterAndrea Wulf @andreawulf.bsky.social · 16/06/2026'The Traveller' is Book of the Week in 'Review of Reviews' in THE WEEK. Very exciting. And incidentally, there is also a mention of my review of Maggie O'Farrell's amazing "Land" (which I loved). Double whammy! 2134
Reposted by Ian FosterData Science Institute @dsi-uchicago.bsky.social · 15/06/2026How can AI companies properly compensate content creators for training data? Raul Castro Fernandez and @glenweyl.bsky.social published an op-ed in @hbr.org exploring how to create a sustainable market that benefits creators, AI companies, and the public 🔗 hbr.org/2026/06/how-... 012
Reposted by Ian Fosterc0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 14/06/2026You're looking at the bird with the shortest beak in the world, but only on a technicality, as beak length is measured from nostrils ('nares') to tips. And the nostril of a kiwi bird is right on the very end of that long schnozzle. Let's talk about the kiwi's completely unique 'nose'. 624145
Reposted by Ian FosterLorena A Barba @labarba.bsky.social · 12/06/2026Last spring I taught a graduate course built on the idea that 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘈𝘐 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭, not a novelty: 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵—all the course materials are now public. Take it, use it, adapt it for your own students or your own research. barbagroup.github.io/mae6291-genai/barbagroup.github.ioGenerative AI for Engineering Research (MAE-6291) — Lorena A. Barba groupMAE-6291, Spring 2026. A graduate course teaching engineering PhD students to use generative AI as a research accelerator. Lecture notes and slides, openly shared. 042
Ian Foster @ianfoster42.bsky.social · 04/06/2026The SciFM conversation is shifting from models to systems. The interesting questions this year were increasingly about how to connect agents, instruments, data, simulations, and compute into effective discovery ecosystems. cs.uchicago.edu/news/scifm-2... @ramanathanlab.bsky.socialcs.uchicago.eduSciFM 2026 at UChicago: Inside the Premier Gathering of AI, Foundation Models, and the Future of Scientific Discovery - Department of Computer ScienceWalking onto the University of Chicago campus this May, visitors to SciFM 2026 could sense the electric anticipation. As the third installment of the Scientific Foundation Models conference series unf... 032
Reposted by Ian FosterPaul Bassett Davies @thewritertype.bsky.social · 03/06/2026Life hack: Who can afford monogramed shirts these days? Simply get your initials tattooed on your chest and cut a little hole out of all your shirts in the appropriate spot. 1192
Reposted by Ian FosterMelanie Mitchell @melaniemitchell.bsky.social · 03/06/2026It's always a treat to read Ted Chiang's thoughts on AI. www.theatlantic.com/philosophy/2...theatlantic.comNo, Artificial Intelligence Is Not ConsciousTaken to its logical conclusion, this line of thinking is absurd—and damning. 59432
Reposted by Ian FosterMaggie Wiggin @maggie162.bsky.social · 01/06/2026My god, Octavia Butler, just miss ONCE 177113863796
Reposted by Ian FosterData Science Institute @dsi-uchicago.bsky.social · 26/05/2026AI-Accelerated Materials Discovery Don’t miss this week’s entry in the AI & Scientific Discovery Online Seminar AI for Battery Series! Featuring Rajeev Assary, Group Leader of the Chemist Molecular Materials Group at Argonne National Laboratory ai-scientific-discovery.github.io 011
Reposted by Ian FosterKate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 26/05/2026Here’s one little-h hypothesis: even for folks doing reasonably well in this strange economy, they can see the worst people in the world just raking in money in the ugliest of ways; they know they’ll never be able to compete with that & that whatever they have will be worth less & less over time. 1436980
Reposted by Ian FosterEcon Analytica @econanalytica.bsky.social · 25/05/2026Cartoon by Barry Blitt 223243
Reposted by Ian FosterMelanie Mitchell @melaniemitchell.bsky.social · 21/05/2026"Science is not simply a sequence of tasks that can be optimized....The scientific system thrives on inefficiency: redundant efforts, failed attempts, and divergent paths. These are not costs to be eliminated but sources of discovery." Excellent essay! ⬇️ www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...science.orgProgression without progressProgress in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to advance scientific discovery has made it increasingly realistic to envision automated “end-to-end science” (ETES) systems: integrated pipelines t... 1421150
Reposted by Ian FosterGlobus.org @globusorg.bsky.social · 18/05/2026It took Globus 10+ years to surpass the 1 EB mark for data transfers. Well today we have now passed the 4 EB mark. Check it out on globus.org. #research data management 032
Reposted by Ian FosterThe Whimsical Muse @whimsicalmuse.bsky.social · 17/05/2026I don’t exactly have scientific data to support this, but I firmly believe that the sound of rain on the roof enhances the reading experience by at least 57%. 541433127