Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ian Foster @ianfoster42.bsky.social · 1d

I guess one can also have non-innovative crackpot theories 😀

Ian Foster @ianfoster42.bsky.social · 1d

Fascinating paper by Zhen Zhang & James Evans: arxiv.org/pdf/2509.05591

Analyzing 2M papers published immediately following the training of five prominent open LLMs, we show that ... the most perplexing are disproportionately represented among the most celebrated ... and also the most discounted.

arxiv.org

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Ian Foster @ianfoster42.bsky.social · 2d

Class is off to a good start. We had to cap enrollments at 50 but 60+ there in practice. I am posting slides at agents4science.github.io. Lecture 1 gives big picture on how reasoning models linked to resources form scientific discovery platforms #agents agents4science.github.io/Assets/Lectu...
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Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 7d

BEST BIG CITY IN THE US 9 YEARS IN A ROW.

While critics try to paint Chicago as something to fear, the rest of the world knows the truth — this is the best big city in America.

Best Big City: Chicago Wins Award 9th Year in a Row

Learn why Chicago was voted the Best Big City for the 9th consecutive year by exploring our vibrant culture, welcoming inclusion, and so much more.

www.choosechicago.com

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Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 8d

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government’s claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed.
trib.al/9Sxu9IN

Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something b-----' before shooting

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government's claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed. A judge ordered Martinez and a co-defendant released pending trial.

trib.al

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Ian Foster @ianfoster42.bsky.social · 8d

Yes that is quite out of date. Not enough hours …

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Ian Foster @ianfoster42.bsky.social · 8d

"The Globus Striped GridFTP Framework and Server", published in 2005, received the SC 2025 "Test of Time" award. This technology underpins the Globus service used by 100,000s worldwide to transfer and share data. Thanks to SC TOT committee; congrats to all!

sc25.supercomputing.org/2025/10/last...

Lasting Innovation in Data Movement: SC25 Test of Time Award • SC25

The annual Test of Time Award recognizes an outstanding paper that has deeply influenced the HPC discipline.

sc25.supercomputing.org

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Theresa Kim, PhD, MS @tyk314.net · 9d

1. Take this seriously. Here is how you do it. Take a screenshot of the #HatchAct violation, whether it's on LinkedIn or other social media or on the actual US Government website. When you file your complaint, provide your personal contact information. If you're a furloughed fed, you're off-duty.

Theresa Kim, PhD, MS @tyk314.net · 10d

OSC tells us how to file a #HatchAct complaint. Nearly all federal sites are in violation. Do not accept this as normal. #FEDSTRONG
osc.gov/Services/Pag...

How to File a Hatch Act Complaint

osc.gov

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Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 10d

History repeats.

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Data Science Institute @dsi-uchicago.bsky.social · 11d

We're excited to share that Jiwen Fan, Faculty Co-Director of the AI for Climate (AICE) research initiative, has been named an American Geophysical Union Fellow!

This program recognizes scientists making major contributions to our understanding of the planet

Learn more 🔗 in reply ⬇️

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Ian Foster @ianfoster42.bsky.social · 12d

Paul Alivisatos [president UChicago] writes that the university "has a great calling to organize itself to promote excellence in how to think with machines." Humans have been thinking "with machines" (e.g., books) for millennia. Will more powerful machines enable more powerful thoughts?

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Larry Hunter @proflhunter.bsky.social · 12d

I donate to them, and I think everyone who can should. donate.wikimedia.org

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Ian Foster @ianfoster42.bsky.social · 15d

Start of the fall quarter here at UChicago and thus of my new "AI Agents for Science" course, which reached capacity almost as soon as enrollment opened. agents4science.github.io. It's going to be fun! #agents

agents4science

agents4science.github.io

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Yale Climate Connections @climateconnections.bsky.social · 18d

Chicago now powers EVERY city-owned building – from airports to police stations – with renewable energy. That includes O’Hare airport. ⚡🌞 #CleanEnergy

Chicago just went all in on renewable energy » Yale Climate Connections

From City Hall to O’Hare Airport, every city-owned building now runs on renewables.

yaleclimateconnections.org

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Max Kozlov @maxkozlov.bsky.social · 19d

NEW: Nature trained AI to predict which NIH grants from 2014 would have been cut if the Trump admin had its way back then — and what science would have been lost to history.

"The results show the damage that cuts in funding can do to research, and the unpredictable nature of the research process."

Nature @nature.com · 19d

We used machine-learning tools in an attempt to recreate the method for cutting funding, and then applied it to past US NIH grants to reveal the broad-reaching consequences

go.nature.com/4pBArFH

What research might be lost after the NIH’s cuts? Nature trained a bot to find out

We used machine-learning tools in an attempt to recreate the method for cutting funding, and then applied it to past US National Institutes of Health grants to reveal the broad-reaching consequences of such action.

go.nature.com

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chenhaotan.bsky.social @chenhaotan.bsky.social · 19d

🚀 We’re thrilled to announce the upcoming AI & Scientific Discovery online seminar! We have an amazing lineup of speakers.

This series will dive into how AI is accelerating research, enabling breakthroughs, and shaping the future of research across disciplines.

ai-scientific-discovery.github.io

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Ben Blaiszik @benblaiszik.bsky.social · 20d

🔥 Today we announce the Meta OMol25 Electronic Structures Dataset - 500 TB of molecular data in collaboration with the AI at Meta team.

Access Details: github.com/facebookrese...

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Ian Foster @ianfoster42.bsky.social · 23d

That was 30 not 40

Ian Foster @ianfoster42.bsky.social · 23d

Exactly

Ian Foster @ianfoster42.bsky.social · 23d

It was a pleasure to meet him at Argonne some 40 years ago. I asked him what he thought of the NCAR CCM, which we were working with at the time. “Too many IF statements” he replied 😃

All Our Yesterdays @allouryesterdays.bsky.social · 23d

Happy 94th birthday, Syukuro Manabe, one of the gods of computer climate modelling (co-author on two pivotal papers in 1967 and 1975).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syukuro...

Syukuro Manabe - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 26d

Luckily, Sinclair has a helpful database of all their stations, so you can see if they're operating in your area and respond accordingly.

sbgi.net/tv-stations/

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Ian Foster @ianfoster42.bsky.social · 26d

“Of all the women incarcerated worldwide, one in four is imprisoned in the United States.”

Carceral Abolition @carceralabolition.bsky.social · 26d

Writing Their Prison’s History:

A recent study by a group of incarcerated scholars at Indiana Women’s Prison reveals how progressive reforms turned into profitable abuse. www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

Writing Their Prison’s History | Scott W. Stern

A recent study by a group of incarcerated scholars at Indiana Women’s Prison reveals how progressive reforms turned into profitable abuse.

www.nybooks.com

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 26d

These are precedented times and the precedent is a loud ass warning

www.nytimes.com/1939/02/04/a...

Goebbels Ends Careers of Five 'Aryan' Actors Who Made Witticisms About the Nazi Regime (Published 1939)

www.nytimes.com

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Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 29d

I’m gonna be crass and say, preorder *my* book!

Kiese Laymon calls it “the most politically audacious book I’ve read in decades”

and

Moiya McTier calls it “deft weave of quantum physics and cultural wisdom”

😻

#BookSky

www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/746817...

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🎃 🧟 Prof. Dr Beth Singler 👻 🎃 @bvlsingler.bsky.social · Sep 11

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