Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

William B. Davis @willbdavis.bsky.social · 5d

I've always manually built colortables in qgis. Would be nice to see an example of one being generated with python

William B. Davis @willbdavis.bsky.social · 12d

I've started processing NOAA's MRMS data to show near real-time storm impacts. Here's the latest from storm Imelda: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

1 5

William B. Davis @willbdavis.bsky.social · 13d

Mapping some recent double events www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Two maps showing recent earthquakes in Venezuela and their relevant shake extents.

Map showing two recent storms that have developed in the Atlantic.

2 3

Reposted by William B. Davis

Robert Simmon @rsimmon.bsky.social · 25d

I just published a new installment of A Gentle Introduction to GDAL. It’s about visualizing time series data & automating tedious processing chains with shell scripting. No experience needed.

#cartography #maps #dataviz

medium.com/@robsimmon/a...

A Gentle Introduction to GDAL Part 9: Automation with Bash

The main strength of GDAL is its command line foundation, which unlocks capabilities that are difficult to execute otherwise.

medium.com

1 8 21

Reposted by William B. Davis

The Upshot @upshot.nytimes.com · Sep 8

Zodiac signs were originally based on the stars. But over thousands of years, our view of the stars has shifted. That means, if you account for this shift, your sign might not be what you think.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Your Zodiac Sign Is 2,000 Years Out of Date

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

4 3 6

Reposted by William B. Davis

Protomaps @protomaps.com · Sep 3

New blog post on @mapterhorn.com - terrain for web mapping

protomaps.com/blog/mapterh...

4 9

Reposted by William B. Davis

The Upshot @upshot.nytimes.com · Sep 2

Tennis vs. pickleball:

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Pickleball Courts Taking Over Tennis Courts, as Seen From the Sky

Aerial photographs show what’s happening all over the country: There’s only so much asphalt, and pickleball can’t get enough of it.

www.nytimes.com

2 3 12

William B. Davis @willbdavis.bsky.social · Aug 21

Made this little guy to track the substantial growth of Erin's tropical-storm-force winds #mapshaper #turfjs #flubber #svelte5 🎁 www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

1 10 24

William B. Davis @willbdavis.bsky.social · Aug 17

Hurricane Erin this morning: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

1 4

Reposted by William B. Davis

Mira Rojanasakul @rjnskl.bsky.social · Aug 4

At ‘Alligator Alcatraz,’ the Biggest Risk Isn’t Alligators

w/ Hiroko Tabuchi
🎁🔗: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Environmental Concerns at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Include Storms and Flooding (Gift Article)

The area around the immigrant detention center, deep in the Everglades, is threatened by hurricanes, extreme heat and even wildfires.

www.nytimes.com

1 16 43

William B. Davis @willbdavis.bsky.social · Jul 19

A very manual @protomaps.com to print pipeline. Always excited to get something in print 🗞️ www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Picture of a New York Times newspaper showing an article titled Potent Ingredients Combine for a Devastating Flash Flood Season.

2 3 20

Reposted by William B. Davis

Marco Hernández @mhernandez.bsky.social · Jul 16

A story in 9 maps to explain what weather experts call “flash flood month.” 🎁 link:
nyti.ms/44PpkiD | great work by my colleagues @willbdavis.bsky.social, @sonofjud.bsky.social and @wallacetim.bsky.social

Here's Why There's So Much Flash Flooding in the U.S. Right Now (Gift Article)

July’s hot temperatures and moist air are the perfect ingredients for rain.

www.nytimes.com

6 11

Reposted by William B. Davis

Development Seed @developmentseed.org · Jul 7

We’re hiring a senior-level Frontend Engineer!

This role is about building tools that help people use Earth data to tackle real-world problems — from climate and conservation to disaster response and open science.

Remote, open-source, and meaningful.
Details + apply: grnh.se/39qfi0m13us

10 8

Reposted by William B. Davis

Bora Erden @boraerden.bsky.social · Jul 7

We interviewed neighbors and former workers, as well as reviewed dozens of photos, videos, recent and historical satellite and aerial imagery of mass grave sites. My colleague Charlie Smart reported from Damascus and captured one remaining trench with photogrammetry.

a side view of the photogrammetry model of a trench.

a detail from the photogrammetry model showing what appears to be teeth marks from an excavator

a historical aerial image showing the approximate location of the najha cemetery

2 1

Reposted by William B. Davis

Datawrapper @datawrapper.de · Jul 1

📊 Here’s a colorful preview of this week’s Data Vis Dispatch! Topics include oil tanker traffic, NYC elections, and the global race for renewable energy 🔋

www.datawrapper.de/blog/data-vi...

A world map showing shipping lanes around the Middle East and Europe, with highlights in place for areas especially affected by signal interference. Published by Bloomberg.

A choropleth map of New York City, showing vote shares of mayoral candidates from the Democratic primary. Published by The New York Times.

A sankey diagram showing FIFA tournament structure, published by Micah McCurdy.

A range plot highlighting reduction in symptoms of hypothalamic amenorrhea in patients after lifestyle interventions. Published by Reuters.

3 12

Reposted by William B. Davis

The New York Times @nytimes.com · Jun 20

The first day of the Atlantic hurricane season came and went on June 1 without a named storm. Three weeks in, there still hasn’t been a named storm. That is both unusual, and not. Here's why.

This Hurricane Season Is One of the Slowest to Start in 20 Years

The Atlantic season began officially on June 1. Three weeks in, there still hasn’t been a named storm.

trib.al

9 6 39

Reposted by William B. Davis

The Upshot @upshot.nytimes.com · Jun 9

About a quarter of the world’s oceans are experiencing temperatures that qualify as a marine heat wave.

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/09/c...

See How Marine Heat Waves Are Spreading Across the Globe

www.nytimes.com

3 15 21

William B. Davis @willbdavis.bsky.social · Jun 4

My colleague @mhernandez.bsky.social has a great article on how to navigate similar data from the same source: mhinfographics.com/2022/07/04/v...

Visualizing organic carbon in near real time. –A step-by-step guide

Long time ago someone on twitter ask me to do an explainer on how I did the “smoke” animations for this Reuters piece. It has been a while since then, but maybe it would be useful for s…

mhinfographics.com

1 10

William B. Davis @willbdavis.bsky.social · Jun 4

Animated some dust moving across the atlantic for this story with @amyjeangraff.bsky.social: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/04/w...

4 16 44

Reposted by William B. Davis

The Upshot @upshot.nytimes.com · Jun 4

Remember the 2015 internet debate about whether the dress was blue and black, or white and gold?

I'm a bumps and bumps person on this one. Give it a try.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Do You See Craters or Bumps on the Moon’s Surface?

A picture taken recently by a Japanese company’s spacecraft shows how your interpretation of objective reality can be tested by the power of illusion.

www.nytimes.com

4 2 2

Reposted by William B. Davis

The Upshot @upshot.nytimes.com · May 22

The reductions in funding touch virtually every area of science and seem certain to harm American competitiveness.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Trump Has Cut Science Funding to Its Lowest Level in Decades

The lag in funding extends far beyond D.E.I. initiatives, affecting almost every area of science: chemistry, computing, engineering, materials and more.

www.nytimes.com

3 76 120

Reposted by William B. Davis

Judson Jones @sonofjud.bsky.social · May 15

Four National Weather Service offices have gone dark at night, and more service reductions are temporarily planned because of the significant cuts this year, which are stretching meteorologists thin.

But could these cuts also kickstart a modernization plan?

nyti.ms/3YOf6wN

The Weather Service Had a Plan to Reinvent Itself. Did DOGE Stop It? (Gift Article)

The U.S. forecasting agency was working on streamlining itself for the modern era. Days away from hurricane season, it’s now struggling to keep offices open.

nyti.ms

11 30 73

Reposted by William B. Davis

Emily Badger @emmbadger.bsky.social · May 12

Policy changes often take years to show results.

And then there is congestion pricing in New York.

Here are all of the ways we could find it having an immediate effect: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Just About Everything That’s Changed Since Congestion Pricing Took Effect (Gift Article)

Fewer cars. Faster travel. Less honking. And some questions we still can’t answer.

www.nytimes.com

8 120 510

William B. Davis @willbdavis.bsky.social · May 12

Live-updating mini globe on the home page over the weekend w/ @jkeefe.bsky.social

Screenshot of the NYT homepage showing a mini globe highlighting the latest estimated position of the kosmos-482 spacecraft.

2

Reposted by William B. Davis

Wanmei L 🌎🛰️ @mapsbyw.com · May 5

After a slow-moving weather system swamped the Midwest U.S. in early April 2025, many rivers’ water levels soared to near-historic levels. Arkansas was particularly hard hit.

“This is one of the largest, most dramatic, and long-lasting agricultural floods we’ve seen in Arkansas in decades” 🧪

1 8 21