Kevin J. Kircher
@kevinjkircher.com
Engineering prof (mechanical + electrical) at a big Midwest state school. Energy, climate, buildings, power grid, control, optimization, data science. He/him. Personal account. https://kevinjkircher.com/ Email: my last name at purdue dot edu
Pinned
Kevin J. Kircher
@kevinjkircher.com
· Nov 4
New paper! Heat-pump water heaters could cut energy costs and pollution, but installs often require 💰 electrical work to accommodate backup resistance heat. My student Levi Premer developed prediction and control software to eliminate the need for backup heat and ⬆️ efficiency and flexibility. 🧵1/
Reposted by Kevin J. Kircher
"abolish ICE and prosecute everyone involved" is the moderate position
January 24, 2026 at 4:15 PM
"abolish ICE and prosecute everyone involved" is the moderate position
Reposted by Kevin J. Kircher
Breaking: Video shows another shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis
Breaking: Video shows another shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis
Agents shot the man several times after wrestling him to the ground.
www.motherjones.com
January 24, 2026 at 4:28 PM
Breaking: Video shows another shooting by federal agents in Minneapolis
Reposted by Kevin J. Kircher
I have become quite accustomed to the nice, even heat of the heat pump. On these super cold days where the furnace kicks on, I'm finding the hot blasts near the vents quite uncomfortable, like being in an overheated car.
January 24, 2026 at 1:45 PM
I have become quite accustomed to the nice, even heat of the heat pump. On these super cold days where the furnace kicks on, I'm finding the hot blasts near the vents quite uncomfortable, like being in an overheated car.
Reposted by Kevin J. Kircher
Rep. @aoc.bsky.social : “ICE is attacking 🇺🇸 citizens, kidnapping 5-year-olds and using them as bait to open doors, and violating constitutional rights by busting into their doors… They deserve to be defunded."
(H/T @meidastouch.com )
(H/T @meidastouch.com )
January 24, 2026 at 3:10 AM
Rep. @aoc.bsky.social : “ICE is attacking 🇺🇸 citizens, kidnapping 5-year-olds and using them as bait to open doors, and violating constitutional rights by busting into their doors… They deserve to be defunded."
(H/T @meidastouch.com )
(H/T @meidastouch.com )
Language models significantly lower barriers to "flooding the zone with shit," as Steve Bannon put it. Faster automation of social media disinformation bots, less accountability for the people behind the bots. Elections are going to get wild.
AI is supercharging information warfare. Influence operations are being automated. A single setup can generate content, schedule posts, reply at scale, and run engagement loops. When this is self-hosted, it does not rely on a platform vendor and it is harder to detect, take down or attribute. (1/5)
January 24, 2026 at 11:14 AM
Language models significantly lower barriers to "flooding the zone with shit," as Steve Bannon put it. Faster automation of social media disinformation bots, less accountability for the people behind the bots. Elections are going to get wild.
Reposted by Kevin J. Kircher
NEW: India is avoiding the fossil fuel detour 🪝
Where China built first on coal and gas, India is taking a shortcut >>> read in 5 graphics🧵
Where China built first on coal and gas, India is taking a shortcut >>> read in 5 graphics🧵
January 23, 2026 at 10:51 AM
NEW: India is avoiding the fossil fuel detour 🪝
Where China built first on coal and gas, India is taking a shortcut >>> read in 5 graphics🧵
Where China built first on coal and gas, India is taking a shortcut >>> read in 5 graphics🧵
It's always funny when a research paper mode-switches from linear storytelling to sounding like a Wikipedia article: "Other papers say X, but here X doesn't apply, except sometimes it does, but the effect is small, probably, but future work should investigate it." Reviewer #2 strikes again!
January 24, 2026 at 10:50 AM
It's always funny when a research paper mode-switches from linear storytelling to sounding like a Wikipedia article: "Other papers say X, but here X doesn't apply, except sometimes it does, but the effect is small, probably, but future work should investigate it." Reviewer #2 strikes again!
Reposted by Kevin J. Kircher
in case you're curious about how angry Minnesota is about ICE, it was -20 today
January 24, 2026 at 12:38 AM
in case you're curious about how angry Minnesota is about ICE, it was -20 today
Reposted by Kevin J. Kircher
As impressive as the images coming out of Minneapolis today are, a friend there just told me they don't do it justice - "the whole city was at a full standstill."
in case you're curious about how angry Minnesota is about ICE, it was -20 today
January 24, 2026 at 12:52 AM
As impressive as the images coming out of Minneapolis today are, a friend there just told me they don't do it justice - "the whole city was at a full standstill."
Reposted by Kevin J. Kircher
It’s cool walking past 2 Hanson Place, the Williamsburg bank building, having just read yesterday how it’s saving money and cutting pollution to comply with Local Law 97, which NYCC and yours truly have had a bit to do with 😀
January 24, 2026 at 12:07 AM
It’s cool walking past 2 Hanson Place, the Williamsburg bank building, having just read yesterday how it’s saving money and cutting pollution to comply with Local Law 97, which NYCC and yours truly have had a bit to do with 😀
Reposted by Kevin J. Kircher
Between talk of outsourcing development of a GHG reporting program to the American Petroleum Institute and adding a steel industry rep to the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, this EPA has become a joke of an environmental regulator:
www.eenews.net/articles/pus...
www.eenews.net/articles/pus...
Push to seat industry rep on EPA panel ‘very uncommon’
If approved by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, the steel industry official would have a role in high-stakes reviews of air quality standards.
www.eenews.net
January 23, 2026 at 5:34 PM
Between talk of outsourcing development of a GHG reporting program to the American Petroleum Institute and adding a steel industry rep to the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, this EPA has become a joke of an environmental regulator:
www.eenews.net/articles/pus...
www.eenews.net/articles/pus...
Reposted by Kevin J. Kircher
Keep hearing "don't talk about climate anymore, talk about affordability" narrative trickle down and out and I gotta say that it feels one step away from being an outright climate denier. Same tactics are being applied to race, trans and queer issues, and more. Why are many people falling for it?
January 23, 2026 at 5:23 PM
Keep hearing "don't talk about climate anymore, talk about affordability" narrative trickle down and out and I gotta say that it feels one step away from being an outright climate denier. Same tactics are being applied to race, trans and queer issues, and more. Why are many people falling for it?
Reposted by Kevin J. Kircher
Minnesota nice means prosecute ICE is soooo good. Solidarity to all of you!!
Police have arrived. Arrests seem imminent. The crowd chants “let them pray” and “Minnesota nice means prosecute ICE”
January 23, 2026 at 5:24 PM
Minnesota nice means prosecute ICE is soooo good. Solidarity to all of you!!
Reposted by Kevin J. Kircher
when i say that the american left needs to be more welcoming to religious folks i am talking about the upstream of this kind of stuff!!!!
Hundreds of clergy descend on Minneapolis and go on lookout for ICE
MINNEAPOLIS (RNS) — The faith leaders, who hail from across the country and represent a range of religious traditions, deployed to neighborhoods with significant immigrant populations, where DHS agent...
religionnews.com
January 23, 2026 at 5:28 PM
when i say that the american left needs to be more welcoming to religious folks i am talking about the upstream of this kind of stuff!!!!
Reposted by Kevin J. Kircher
Trump's "board of peace" seems mainly like a post-presidency grift for the trump family - yes a way to usurp the UN but also to keep monetizing the presidency out of office.
Not unlike the Clinton Global Initiative, I'm afraid. But with more private $$ to the family and less do-gooder veneer.
Not unlike the Clinton Global Initiative, I'm afraid. But with more private $$ to the family and less do-gooder veneer.
January 23, 2026 at 5:28 PM
Trump's "board of peace" seems mainly like a post-presidency grift for the trump family - yes a way to usurp the UN but also to keep monetizing the presidency out of office.
Not unlike the Clinton Global Initiative, I'm afraid. But with more private $$ to the family and less do-gooder veneer.
Not unlike the Clinton Global Initiative, I'm afraid. But with more private $$ to the family and less do-gooder veneer.
Reposted by Kevin J. Kircher
Look at these beautiful images of peaceful resistance in Minneapolis today 😍😍 #inspiring!
It’s -9 degrees. Downtown Minneapolis is packed for the anti-ICE rally and the crowd keeps growing
January 23, 2026 at 10:39 PM
Look at these beautiful images of peaceful resistance in Minneapolis today 😍😍 #inspiring!
No one could have seen this coming. Just like it's inconceivable that driving a Tesla could expose you to worse data privacy and security practices than driving a Chinese electric car (imports of which the federal government functionally bans, a massive subsidy to Tesla's US EV business).
BREAKING: Now that TikTok is under US-based ownership, the social media app potentially collects more detailed information about its users, including precise location data.
My latest for @wired.com:
www.wired.com/story/tiktok...
My latest for @wired.com:
www.wired.com/story/tiktok...
TikTok Is Now Collecting Even More Data About Its Users. Here Are the 3 Biggest Changes
According to its new privacy policy, TikTok now collects more data on its users, including their precise location, after majority ownership officially switched to a group based in the US.
www.wired.com
January 23, 2026 at 11:09 PM
No one could have seen this coming. Just like it's inconceivable that driving a Tesla could expose you to worse data privacy and security practices than driving a Chinese electric car (imports of which the federal government functionally bans, a massive subsidy to Tesla's US EV business).
Reposted by Kevin J. Kircher
Dig down here to read a large collection of emails between DOE and the five authors of the contrarian 'climate working group' report. Very interesting...
Ugh. Is the Administration illegally undermining climate work in America…?
www.edf.org/media/newly-...
www.edf.org/media/newly-...
Newly Disclosed Records Show Trump Administration’s Unlawful Actions Related to Secretly Formed “Climate Working Group”
The records are part of more than 68,000 pages of records obtained by EDF and the Union of Concerned Scientists as as the result of a lawsuit.
www.edf.org
January 22, 2026 at 11:18 PM
Dig down here to read a large collection of emails between DOE and the five authors of the contrarian 'climate working group' report. Very interesting...
Reposted by Kevin J. Kircher
The clergy just keep coming to this anti-ICE protest.
Genuinely unclear where they all will go — it’s packed outside on the sidewalk already.
Genuinely unclear where they all will go — it’s packed outside on the sidewalk already.
January 23, 2026 at 4:18 PM
The clergy just keep coming to this anti-ICE protest.
Genuinely unclear where they all will go — it’s packed outside on the sidewalk already.
Genuinely unclear where they all will go — it’s packed outside on the sidewalk already.
Reposted by Kevin J. Kircher
As a Jew, one question that crosses your mind when you make a friend is, "Would this person hide me?"
These people would hide us. These people are Righteous Among the Nations.
These people would hide us. These people are Righteous Among the Nations.
The clergy just keep coming to this anti-ICE protest.
Genuinely unclear where they all will go — it’s packed outside on the sidewalk already.
Genuinely unclear where they all will go — it’s packed outside on the sidewalk already.
January 23, 2026 at 6:06 PM
As a Jew, one question that crosses your mind when you make a friend is, "Would this person hide me?"
These people would hide us. These people are Righteous Among the Nations.
These people would hide us. These people are Righteous Among the Nations.
Reposted by Kevin J. Kircher
ICE detain yet another minor child—chase him down his own street and tackle him to pavement.
"I am legal! I am legal!" he cries over and over in Spanish.
Agent pins the boy down in snow—he desperately tries to keep his exposed hands from freezing at -25°F wind chill temperature.
Minneapolis, MN
"I am legal! I am legal!" he cries over and over in Spanish.
Agent pins the boy down in snow—he desperately tries to keep his exposed hands from freezing at -25°F wind chill temperature.
Minneapolis, MN
January 23, 2026 at 4:45 PM
ICE detain yet another minor child—chase him down his own street and tackle him to pavement.
"I am legal! I am legal!" he cries over and over in Spanish.
Agent pins the boy down in snow—he desperately tries to keep his exposed hands from freezing at -25°F wind chill temperature.
Minneapolis, MN
"I am legal! I am legal!" he cries over and over in Spanish.
Agent pins the boy down in snow—he desperately tries to keep his exposed hands from freezing at -25°F wind chill temperature.
Minneapolis, MN
Reposted by Kevin J. Kircher
A few other quick shots from the protest:
January 23, 2026 at 6:26 PM
A few other quick shots from the protest:
Reposted by Kevin J. Kircher
These pictures mean so much. Look at which stoles they've chosen, what those mean (that giraffe!). Look at the pads they brought so they could kneel in the cold. The looks on their faces, their arms linked. I'm in awe.
A few other quick shots from the protest:
January 23, 2026 at 6:40 PM
These pictures mean so much. Look at which stoles they've chosen, what those mean (that giraffe!). Look at the pads they brought so they could kneel in the cold. The looks on their faces, their arms linked. I'm in awe.
Reposted by Kevin J. Kircher
At a time when everyone is talking about data centers and electric affordability, Gov. Murphy's pocket veto of this bill was a big mistake for his legacy. Also makes things harder for his successor ...
www.utilitydive.com/news/nj-gove...
www.utilitydive.com/news/nj-gove...
NJ governor seeks changes to ‘weaken’ large load tariff bill, lawmaker says
“We are not willing to bend to any changes to this bill,” Assemblyman David Bailey Jr. told Utility Dive. “If he does nothing, in essence, he pocket vetoes it ... That’s on him.”
www.utilitydive.com
January 23, 2026 at 7:44 PM
At a time when everyone is talking about data centers and electric affordability, Gov. Murphy's pocket veto of this bill was a big mistake for his legacy. Also makes things harder for his successor ...
www.utilitydive.com/news/nj-gove...
www.utilitydive.com/news/nj-gove...
Reposted by Kevin J. Kircher
“The industry feels strongly that these [utility] commissions, the regulatory bodies, are best positioned in order to craft the details of the tariffs, of the rates, to ensure flexibility"
Data center industry flacks know they can control regulators & manipulate outcomes & just say so out loud.
Data center industry flacks know they can control regulators & manipulate outcomes & just say so out loud.
At a time when everyone is talking about data centers and electric affordability, Gov. Murphy's pocket veto of this bill was a big mistake for his legacy. Also makes things harder for his successor ...
www.utilitydive.com/news/nj-gove...
www.utilitydive.com/news/nj-gove...
NJ governor seeks changes to ‘weaken’ large load tariff bill, lawmaker says
“We are not willing to bend to any changes to this bill,” Assemblyman David Bailey Jr. told Utility Dive. “If he does nothing, in essence, he pocket vetoes it ... That’s on him.”
www.utilitydive.com
January 23, 2026 at 7:50 PM
“The industry feels strongly that these [utility] commissions, the regulatory bodies, are best positioned in order to craft the details of the tariffs, of the rates, to ensure flexibility"
Data center industry flacks know they can control regulators & manipulate outcomes & just say so out loud.
Data center industry flacks know they can control regulators & manipulate outcomes & just say so out loud.