John F Wu
@jwuphysics.bsky.social
Tenure-track astronomer at STScI/JHU working on galaxies, machine learning, and AI for scientific discovery. Opinions my own. He/him.
Website: https://jwuphysics.github.io/
Website: https://jwuphysics.github.io/
Beautiful shot, but worth noting:
[H]e then made the image “super high-res” by shooting the Sun on another telescope and “assembled a mosaic of the entire Sun”, which he later matched with the features in Brown’s photo.
petapixel.com/2025/11/14/s...
[H]e then made the image “super high-res” by shooting the Sun on another telescope and “assembled a mosaic of the entire Sun”, which he later matched with the features in Brown’s photo.
petapixel.com/2025/11/14/s...
November 25, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Beautiful shot, but worth noting:
[H]e then made the image “super high-res” by shooting the Sun on another telescope and “assembled a mosaic of the entire Sun”, which he later matched with the features in Brown’s photo.
petapixel.com/2025/11/14/s...
[H]e then made the image “super high-res” by shooting the Sun on another telescope and “assembled a mosaic of the entire Sun”, which he later matched with the features in Brown’s photo.
petapixel.com/2025/11/14/s...
You never get over imposter syndrome. It just becomes a superposition of "holy crap everybody is smarter than me" and "holy crap maybe I know stuff nobody else does"
So the intersection of states is just "holy crap"
So the intersection of states is just "holy crap"
November 22, 2025 at 2:11 AM
You never get over imposter syndrome. It just becomes a superposition of "holy crap everybody is smarter than me" and "holy crap maybe I know stuff nobody else does"
So the intersection of states is just "holy crap"
So the intersection of states is just "holy crap"
Agree. I strongly believe that using AI to summarize information is a strong form of outsourcing your thinking.
Summarization is crystallizing your thoughts, and -- at least for topics you are still trying to learn -- you can't afford to let an LLM do that in your stead.
Summarization is crystallizing your thoughts, and -- at least for topics you are still trying to learn -- you can't afford to let an LLM do that in your stead.
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 1:13 PM
Agree. I strongly believe that using AI to summarize information is a strong form of outsourcing your thinking.
Summarization is crystallizing your thoughts, and -- at least for topics you are still trying to learn -- you can't afford to let an LLM do that in your stead.
Summarization is crystallizing your thoughts, and -- at least for topics you are still trying to learn -- you can't afford to let an LLM do that in your stead.
Reposted by John F Wu
Good morning. I've got a banger new post out today that develops a new method for placing voters on the left-right ideological spectrum, and adds a new, "non-ideological"/affordability axis to usual way we chart & think about US voters (esp swing voters). www.gelliottmorris.com/p/not-just-l...
Not just left vs right: Most voters think about affordability and material wellbeing, not in ideological terms
Most voters want a party that emphasizes cost of living issues and makes the world a better place. Few Americans think in solidly ideologically terms. "Moderates" are mostly non-ideological.
www.gelliottmorris.com
November 20, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Good morning. I've got a banger new post out today that develops a new method for placing voters on the left-right ideological spectrum, and adds a new, "non-ideological"/affordability axis to usual way we chart & think about US voters (esp swing voters). www.gelliottmorris.com/p/not-just-l...
Honestly I don't think it is.
This person wants to feel like they're in a space where they belong, where they don't feel like a foreigner... and they didn't leave feeling that way. That sucks, I get it.
I love La Maison because it's one of the ONLY places in Baltimore where I feel DO that way.
This person wants to feel like they're in a space where they belong, where they don't feel like a foreigner... and they didn't leave feeling that way. That sucks, I get it.
I love La Maison because it's one of the ONLY places in Baltimore where I feel DO that way.
Wow, that's racist. (The letter, not you)
November 19, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Honestly I don't think it is.
This person wants to feel like they're in a space where they belong, where they don't feel like a foreigner... and they didn't leave feeling that way. That sucks, I get it.
I love La Maison because it's one of the ONLY places in Baltimore where I feel DO that way.
This person wants to feel like they're in a space where they belong, where they don't feel like a foreigner... and they didn't leave feeling that way. That sucks, I get it.
I love La Maison because it's one of the ONLY places in Baltimore where I feel DO that way.
If you're going to leave a bad review for La Maison/Cafe Dear Leon, then you better at least get your facts straight...
November 19, 2025 at 4:42 PM
If you're going to leave a bad review for La Maison/Cafe Dear Leon, then you better at least get your facts straight...
Reposted by John F Wu
Hey #astrosci community! After working on this project for 3 years, there's a new Hubble Spectroscopic Legacy Archive that's just been newly made available at @stsci.edu: archive.stsci.edu/missions-and... follow me to learn more! (1/n)
November 17, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Hey #astrosci community! After working on this project for 3 years, there's a new Hubble Spectroscopic Legacy Archive that's just been newly made available at @stsci.edu: archive.stsci.edu/missions-and... follow me to learn more! (1/n)
Nice! This belongs on #astrosci!
Paper day!!! My most recent first-author paper is officially published. I’ll make a post breaking it down soon but TLDR I compared X-Ray observations of hot gas around galaxies to cosmological simulations and it looks like simulations aren’t consistently able to match the real universe! 🔭🧪
November 17, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Nice! This belongs on #astrosci!
Reposted by John F Wu
I did my job. And then I did a job that never should have been my responsibility afterwards, sending emails and having meetings about how this was allowed to happen in the first place. Other women scholars had to spend their time explaining to Aspen leadership why this was not ok.
November 16, 2025 at 7:15 PM
I did my job. And then I did a job that never should have been my responsibility afterwards, sending emails and having meetings about how this was allowed to happen in the first place. Other women scholars had to spend their time explaining to Aspen leadership why this was not ok.
Reposted by John F Wu
New (sort of) preprint on arXiv today: a generalized bias-variance decomposition for Bregman divergences! arxiv.org/abs/2511.08789
A Generalized Bias-Variance Decomposition for Bregman Divergences
The bias-variance decomposition is a central result in statistics and machine learning, but is typically presented only for the squared error. We present a generalization of the bias-variance decompos...
arxiv.org
November 13, 2025 at 8:44 PM
New (sort of) preprint on arXiv today: a generalized bias-variance decomposition for Bregman divergences! arxiv.org/abs/2511.08789
Reposted by John F Wu
“This record-breaking response reflects Webb’s exceptional performance and unprecedented capacity to inspire the scientific community and to transform our understanding of the universe,” said STScI Director Jen Lotz. 🔭 ☄️
The demand to use #NASAWebb shows no signs of slowing! For its fifth year, researchers around the world submitted a record-breaking 2,900+ proposals.
The types of requests show astronomers are ready to answer even bolder scientific questions: https://bit.ly/4nYC0LS 🔭 🧪
The types of requests show astronomers are ready to answer even bolder scientific questions: https://bit.ly/4nYC0LS 🔭 🧪
November 12, 2025 at 8:25 PM
“This record-breaking response reflects Webb’s exceptional performance and unprecedented capacity to inspire the scientific community and to transform our understanding of the universe,” said STScI Director Jen Lotz. 🔭 ☄️
Took a break from wrangling NSF grant application spreadsheets and instead decided to wrangle MLB team sentiment spreadsheets...
November 12, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Took a break from wrangling NSF grant application spreadsheets and instead decided to wrangle MLB team sentiment spreadsheets...
Reposted by John F Wu
Trump "has expressed such outrage at attacks on Christians in Nigeria that he has threatened military intervention there... but here’s the awkwardness: Trump’s aid cuts are killing far more Nigerian Christians than Islamic terrorists are." @nickkristof.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/o...
Opinion | Trump Aid Cuts Kill More Christians Than Jihadists Do
www.nytimes.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Trump "has expressed such outrage at attacks on Christians in Nigeria that he has threatened military intervention there... but here’s the awkwardness: Trump’s aid cuts are killing far more Nigerian Christians than Islamic terrorists are." @nickkristof.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/o...
Reposted by John F Wu
No opinion about this specific claim, but I do think we need more humanities in our lives and hearts and minds. And more arts. More history, more literature, more painting, more moral philosophy, more poetry. More thinking about and cherishing what makes human life special.
I don’t know about you but I sincerely believe that Zohran Mamdani’s BA Major in Africana Studies enabled him to understand our current conjuncture & its demands of justice. Humanities shape minds & in his case for the better.
I know white tech bros disagree as they continue to collapse our worlds.
I know white tech bros disagree as they continue to collapse our worlds.
November 6, 2025 at 8:18 PM
No opinion about this specific claim, but I do think we need more humanities in our lives and hearts and minds. And more arts. More history, more literature, more painting, more moral philosophy, more poetry. More thinking about and cherishing what makes human life special.
Reposted by John F Wu
Dutch journalist/ historian @rutgerbregman.com at the World Economic Forum in Davos 2019, calling out the elites about the elephant in the room- "We've got to be talking about taxes!!"
#inequality #taxes @taxwarroom.bsky.social @fairshareamerica.bsky.social @patrioticmillionaires.org
#inequality #taxes @taxwarroom.bsky.social @fairshareamerica.bsky.social @patrioticmillionaires.org
November 6, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Dutch journalist/ historian @rutgerbregman.com at the World Economic Forum in Davos 2019, calling out the elites about the elephant in the room- "We've got to be talking about taxes!!"
#inequality #taxes @taxwarroom.bsky.social @fairshareamerica.bsky.social @patrioticmillionaires.org
#inequality #taxes @taxwarroom.bsky.social @fairshareamerica.bsky.social @patrioticmillionaires.org
Stunning! 🤩
unwrapping party! 🤗📚⭐🛰️🔭 the advance copy of my new james webb space telescope book just arrived, and it looks gorgeous! (official pub date is november 11)
November 6, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Stunning! 🤩
Reposted by John F Wu
Hoping this helps our colleagues across the industry
November 5, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Hoping this helps our colleagues across the industry
Awesome new paper on galaxy evolution for the #astrosci crowd!
Should’ve posted yesterday! In a paper titled “Searching Within Galaxies for the Earliest Signs of Quenching With Spatially Resolved Star Formation Histories in UVCANDELS” we divided star-forming galaxies into bits to see how star formation changed depending on location over the last billion years.
November 6, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Awesome new paper on galaxy evolution for the #astrosci crowd!
Me when my 14-month old throws up and interrupts my first full week of work since September
November 5, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Me when my 14-month old throws up and interrupts my first full week of work since September
I have no faith that the DNC will have any idea how to proceed from here. But let's forget that for now -- congratulations Mayor Mamdani, Governor Sherrill, and Governor Spanberger!
November 5, 2025 at 2:49 AM
I have no faith that the DNC will have any idea how to proceed from here. But let's forget that for now -- congratulations Mayor Mamdani, Governor Sherrill, and Governor Spanberger!
Looking At NJ governor election results and... What is going on with Gen Z.
November 5, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Looking At NJ governor election results and... What is going on with Gen Z.
Still thinking about the group of kids who saw us trick or treating and said, "I think he's an Saja Boy"
Every year my wife always has the greatest family costume ideas
This year for Halloween: pollinators & friends 🐝🦋🌻🤠
This year for Halloween: pollinators & friends 🐝🦋🌻🤠
November 3, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Still thinking about the group of kids who saw us trick or treating and said, "I think he's an Saja Boy"
What a nice relaxing game of baseball
November 2, 2025 at 3:54 AM
What a nice relaxing game of baseball
Obscure question for #Ravens fans and journalists: I have this T-shirt that references "Splash '98 Funky Jungle" presented by the Baltimore Ravens.
What event was this?
Google search, ChatGPT turned up nothing...
What event was this?
Google search, ChatGPT turned up nothing...
November 1, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Obscure question for #Ravens fans and journalists: I have this T-shirt that references "Splash '98 Funky Jungle" presented by the Baltimore Ravens.
What event was this?
Google search, ChatGPT turned up nothing...
What event was this?
Google search, ChatGPT turned up nothing...