Kim Wood
@drkimwood.bsky.social
Associate professor at UArizona. Hurricane mortician. Open science + Python + scicomm + 🐈 enthusiast. Personal account. Occasionally salty. Always tired. Helpful to a fault.
Pinned
Kim Wood
@drkimwood.bsky.social
· Aug 8
The six “ingredients” of tropical cyclone formation
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) defines a tropical cyclone as
medium.com
With the climatologically active part of the Atlantic hurricane season around the corner, I've reproduced my explainer on the six "ingredients" for tropical cyclone formation on Medium as an experiment in using that platform. medium.com/@drkimwood/t...
Reposted by Kim Wood
The "DOGE is gone" articles are clickbait but this one gets it closer to the truth: DOGE is not gone, it just claims to have "no centralized leadership" anymore -- in other words, its leadership is hiding in an attempt to avoid blame.
DOGE no longer has ‘centralized leadership’ under White House tech team, personnel head says
The team that was altered to house DOGE — formerly the U.S. Digital Service — is also still doing its own technology work across agencies.
www.nextgov.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:09 AM
The "DOGE is gone" articles are clickbait but this one gets it closer to the truth: DOGE is not gone, it just claims to have "no centralized leadership" anymore -- in other words, its leadership is hiding in an attempt to avoid blame.
Reposted by Kim Wood
(A) stop feeling pressure to be perfect;
(B) normalize asking questions, because that is normalizing learning;
(C) do not ask AI if your turkey is done; ask a meat thermometer
(B) normalize asking questions, because that is normalizing learning;
(C) do not ask AI if your turkey is done; ask a meat thermometer
This is so soulless, I can't stand it. We have BRAINS. We can USE THEM.
November 25, 2025 at 5:56 PM
(A) stop feeling pressure to be perfect;
(B) normalize asking questions, because that is normalizing learning;
(C) do not ask AI if your turkey is done; ask a meat thermometer
(B) normalize asking questions, because that is normalizing learning;
(C) do not ask AI if your turkey is done; ask a meat thermometer
I had a moment of panic when I thought the grades + feedback I'd carefully entered online somehow vanished because nothing was in the gradebook... only for me to find them saved as drafts rather than published. 🤦 I am very much looking forward to some recharge over the upcoming holiday weekend.
November 25, 2025 at 10:10 PM
I had a moment of panic when I thought the grades + feedback I'd carefully entered online somehow vanished because nothing was in the gradebook... only for me to find them saved as drafts rather than published. 🤦 I am very much looking forward to some recharge over the upcoming holiday weekend.
Reposted by Kim Wood
Re-upping this position before the December 1st application deadline. I'm looking to hire a post-doc - could be a climate scientist or environmental economist. Ideal start early 2026 but could be later. Please circulate!
🚨The Moore Lab at UC Davis is hiring!🚨
Post-doc for a project with @adamsobel.bsky.social on the valuation of climate information for adaptation
Could be a good fit for an environmental economist or a climate scientist - flexible start date and location
Apply by Dec 1st: recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07346
Post-doc for a project with @adamsobel.bsky.social on the valuation of climate information for adaptation
Could be a good fit for an environmental economist or a climate scientist - flexible start date and location
Apply by Dec 1st: recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07346
Postdoctoral Scholar - Environmental Science & Policy
University of California, Davis is hiring. Apply now!
recruit.ucdavis.edu
November 25, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Re-upping this position before the December 1st application deadline. I'm looking to hire a post-doc - could be a climate scientist or environmental economist. Ideal start early 2026 but could be later. Please circulate!
Reposted by Kim Wood
I really wish we'd stop calling them climate "skeptics" or "vaccine skeptics", if you jump off a cliff we don't call you a "gravity skeptic"
November 25, 2025 at 8:18 PM
I really wish we'd stop calling them climate "skeptics" or "vaccine skeptics", if you jump off a cliff we don't call you a "gravity skeptic"
Some days you mark your progress by milestones, other days by inch pebbles.
Today is an inch pebble kind of day.
Today is an inch pebble kind of day.
November 25, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Some days you mark your progress by milestones, other days by inch pebbles.
Today is an inch pebble kind of day.
Today is an inch pebble kind of day.
Reposted by Kim Wood
i'm saying!!!!
NEW: AI “recipe slop” is overrunning search and social. Food creators say Google’s AI Overviews and glossy fake food pics are drowning out real, tested recipes — collapsing traffic and setting home cooks up for disaster, especially this Thanksgiving.
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
AI Slop Recipes Are Taking Over the Internet -- And Thanksgiving Dinner
Food bloggers see traffic dip as home cooks turn to AI, inspired by impossible pictures
www.bloomberg.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:01 PM
i'm saying!!!!
Reposted by Kim Wood
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
November 25, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
another downside: no time to celebrate checking Things off one's to-do list because there are Too Many Things left
a downside of Being Good At Things is that you get assigned so many Things that you eventually reach the point that you are now Bad At Things
November 25, 2025 at 3:26 PM
another downside: no time to celebrate checking Things off one's to-do list because there are Too Many Things left
Reposted by Kim Wood
First, an earthquake hit Alaska. Then it was a typhoon. People turned to public radio for lifesaving information. Sen. Lisa Murkowski tried to get her colleagues to understand the importance of stations.
They voted to defund public media anyway.
They voted to defund public media anyway.
In rural America, public radio saves lives
In remote Alaska, public radio station KYUK is crucial during natural disasters. Without federal funding, how will it survive?
revealnews.org
November 22, 2025 at 10:27 PM
First, an earthquake hit Alaska. Then it was a typhoon. People turned to public radio for lifesaving information. Sen. Lisa Murkowski tried to get her colleagues to understand the importance of stations.
They voted to defund public media anyway.
They voted to defund public media anyway.
Reposted by Kim Wood
The EPA is starting to allow the use of pesticides containing PFAS on food.
The move is part of an effort to roll back the regulation of what are called "forever chemicals" because they don't break down easily in the environment.
November 24, 2025 at 11:35 PM
The EPA is starting to allow the use of pesticides containing PFAS on food.
The move is part of an effort to roll back the regulation of what are called "forever chemicals" because they don't break down easily in the environment.
Reposted by Kim Wood
November 24, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Reposted by Kim Wood
What is poor practice during Hurricane season is also poor practice in Winter Season.
Do not share deterministic models forecasts >5-7 days out. Snowfall maps are an especially poor choice of model graphic to share with much lead time.
My 2️⃣🪙
Do not share deterministic models forecasts >5-7 days out. Snowfall maps are an especially poor choice of model graphic to share with much lead time.
My 2️⃣🪙
There is a reason why most (unfortunately I can’t say all) #meteorologists don’t show extended range ensemble forecasts for a reason. Even if a disclaimer like “this is not a forecast” is given, the forecast is still being shown and could be misinterpreted as such. 😒
November 24, 2025 at 9:34 PM
What is poor practice during Hurricane season is also poor practice in Winter Season.
Do not share deterministic models forecasts >5-7 days out. Snowfall maps are an especially poor choice of model graphic to share with much lead time.
My 2️⃣🪙
Do not share deterministic models forecasts >5-7 days out. Snowfall maps are an especially poor choice of model graphic to share with much lead time.
My 2️⃣🪙
Reposted by Kim Wood
you fire right back at them and you FIRE RIGHT AWAY.
November 24, 2025 at 6:52 PM
you fire right back at them and you FIRE RIGHT AWAY.
There's no evidence that I've spilled or otherwise wasted any coffee, yet I feel like I haven't already had multiple cups today. 😴 Perils of already being 4 hours into the workday as of 10:30am?
November 24, 2025 at 5:30 PM
There's no evidence that I've spilled or otherwise wasted any coffee, yet I feel like I haven't already had multiple cups today. 😴 Perils of already being 4 hours into the workday as of 10:30am?
The next time I see someone refer to declined peer review requests as "selfish," I'm screaming into a pillow.
That's far from the first assumption to be made about asking overworked experts to volunteer even more of their time.
That's far from the first assumption to be made about asking overworked experts to volunteer even more of their time.
November 24, 2025 at 3:03 PM
The next time I see someone refer to declined peer review requests as "selfish," I'm screaming into a pillow.
That's far from the first assumption to be made about asking overworked experts to volunteer even more of their time.
That's far from the first assumption to be made about asking overworked experts to volunteer even more of their time.
Reposted by Kim Wood
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
November 22, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
Reposted by Kim Wood
After many long months, I’m excited to announce: we’re hiring!
GSL through CIRES is looking to hire a land-surface model developer. Come join us in developing the next generation of storm-scale NWP for NOAA & community! Closes 12/12, pls contact me w/ questions.
jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDeta...
GSL through CIRES is looking to hire a land-surface model developer. Come join us in developing the next generation of storm-scale NWP for NOAA & community! Closes 12/12, pls contact me w/ questions.
jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDeta...
CIRES / NOAA Global Systems Laboratory, Land Surface Modeler
jobs.colorado.edu
November 22, 2025 at 2:38 AM
After many long months, I’m excited to announce: we’re hiring!
GSL through CIRES is looking to hire a land-surface model developer. Come join us in developing the next generation of storm-scale NWP for NOAA & community! Closes 12/12, pls contact me w/ questions.
jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDeta...
GSL through CIRES is looking to hire a land-surface model developer. Come join us in developing the next generation of storm-scale NWP for NOAA & community! Closes 12/12, pls contact me w/ questions.
jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDeta...
Reposted by Kim Wood
Friendly reminder that dishwashers made after 1995 or so are so water and energy efficient that even if you ran them twice fully loaded it would still use less water than handwashing the same load.
So many "green" things feel like sacrifices. Dishwashers are not one of them.
So many "green" things feel like sacrifices. Dishwashers are not one of them.
November 12, 2025 at 5:03 AM
Friendly reminder that dishwashers made after 1995 or so are so water and energy efficient that even if you ran them twice fully loaded it would still use less water than handwashing the same load.
So many "green" things feel like sacrifices. Dishwashers are not one of them.
So many "green" things feel like sacrifices. Dishwashers are not one of them.
Reposted by Kim Wood
New from me: I talked to CDC staffers about the new vaccines and autism page. They said things like:
“The best way I can put it is it feels like we’re on a hijacked airplane.”
“I think people are starting to see that we can’t fulfill our mission here.”
“The best way I can put it is it feels like we’re on a hijacked airplane.”
“I think people are starting to see that we can’t fulfill our mission here.”
“Embarrassing” and “horrifying”: CDC workers describe the new vaccines and autism page
"The best way I can put it is it feels like we're on a hijacked airplane."
www.motherjones.com
November 21, 2025 at 5:41 PM
New from me: I talked to CDC staffers about the new vaccines and autism page. They said things like:
“The best way I can put it is it feels like we’re on a hijacked airplane.”
“I think people are starting to see that we can’t fulfill our mission here.”
“The best way I can put it is it feels like we’re on a hijacked airplane.”
“I think people are starting to see that we can’t fulfill our mission here.”
Reposted by Kim Wood
“Kennedy seems to be ‘going from evidence-based decision making to decision-based evidence making.’” —Dr. Daniel Jernigan
The Trump administration has revised a website to contradict the scientific consensus that vaccines do not cause autism.
CDC website is changed to raise suspicions of a vaccines-autism link
The Trump administration has revised a website to contradict the scientific consensus that vaccines do not cause autism.
bit.ly
November 21, 2025 at 11:04 AM
“Kennedy seems to be ‘going from evidence-based decision making to decision-based evidence making.’” —Dr. Daniel Jernigan
Reposted by Kim Wood
It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 12:49 PM
It’s widely known (and, I think, pretty uncontroversial) that learning requires effort — specifically, if you don’t have to work at getting the knowledge, it won’t stick.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Even if an LLM could be trusted to give you correct information 100% of the time, it would be an inferior method of learning it.
Reposted by Kim Wood
Anyway please enjoy this pumpkin I saw yesterday
November 20, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Anyway please enjoy this pumpkin I saw yesterday
Reposted by Kim Wood
How awful. This is outright health disinformation, lying to the American people. Not only is there massive evidence showing no link between vaccines & autism, there’s not even a plausible mechanism based on what we’ve learned about the genetics of autism, some environmental exposures in pregnancy
HEADS UP: CDC website now officially asserts that vaccines may cause autism.“Studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities.” Also says the “vaccines do not cause autism” header remains b/c of an agreement with Cassidy.
November 20, 2025 at 3:18 AM
How awful. This is outright health disinformation, lying to the American people. Not only is there massive evidence showing no link between vaccines & autism, there’s not even a plausible mechanism based on what we’ve learned about the genetics of autism, some environmental exposures in pregnancy