Ian Foster
@ianfoster42.bsky.social
Deep computing for deep science. UChicago & Argonne Nat Lab. Work with amazing people. Globus. AI, HPC, robotics for discovery. And sailing. And books. And music. And beauty.
Reposted by Ian Foster
In the century leading up to 1975, nearly 6000 freighters went down in the Great Lakes.
The Edmund Fitzgerald was the last.
The last. In 50 years, not a single commercial freighter has been lost in the Great Lakes.
Why?
It's NOAA. Of course it's NOAA.
The Edmund Fitzgerald was the last.
The last. In 50 years, not a single commercial freighter has been lost in the Great Lakes.
Why?
It's NOAA. Of course it's NOAA.
November 11, 2025 at 1:50 AM
In the century leading up to 1975, nearly 6000 freighters went down in the Great Lakes.
The Edmund Fitzgerald was the last.
The last. In 50 years, not a single commercial freighter has been lost in the Great Lakes.
Why?
It's NOAA. Of course it's NOAA.
The Edmund Fitzgerald was the last.
The last. In 50 years, not a single commercial freighter has been lost in the Great Lakes.
Why?
It's NOAA. Of course it's NOAA.
Reposted by Ian Foster
Happy "Lights All Askew" Day to all who celebrate! (Headline in the New York Times from Nov. 10, 1919, brings Einstein's theory of gravity, general relativity -- along with its alleged incomprehensibility -- to the public.) 🪐🔭🧠📰 #physics #science #histsci #lightsallaskew
November 10, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Happy "Lights All Askew" Day to all who celebrate! (Headline in the New York Times from Nov. 10, 1919, brings Einstein's theory of gravity, general relativity -- along with its alleged incomprehensibility -- to the public.) 🪐🔭🧠📰 #physics #science #histsci #lightsallaskew
Dropbox informed me today that, at least, "Emojis in filenames are finally here! 🥳" -- what a time to be alive ...
November 6, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Dropbox informed me today that, at least, "Emojis in filenames are finally here! 🥳" -- what a time to be alive ...
Reposted by Ian Foster
Moon Duchin on the ‘Mathematical Quagmire’ of Gerrymandering
www.nytimes.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Reposted by Ian Foster
AI can accelerate scientific discovery, but only if we get the scientist–AI interaction right.
The dream of “autonomous AI scientists” is tempting:
machines that generate hypotheses, run experiments, and write papers. But science isn’t just automation.
cichicago.substack.com/p/the-mirage...
🧵
The dream of “autonomous AI scientists” is tempting:
machines that generate hypotheses, run experiments, and write papers. But science isn’t just automation.
cichicago.substack.com/p/the-mirage...
🧵
The Mirage of Autonomous AI Scientists
Science as AI’s killer application cannot succeed without scientist-AI interaction: Introducing Hypogenic.ai.
cichicago.substack.com
October 23, 2025 at 6:55 PM
AI can accelerate scientific discovery, but only if we get the scientist–AI interaction right.
The dream of “autonomous AI scientists” is tempting:
machines that generate hypotheses, run experiments, and write papers. But science isn’t just automation.
cichicago.substack.com/p/the-mirage...
🧵
The dream of “autonomous AI scientists” is tempting:
machines that generate hypotheses, run experiments, and write papers. But science isn’t just automation.
cichicago.substack.com/p/the-mirage...
🧵
Reposted by Ian Foster
A terrific AFP fact check uses reverse image searches to expose how a White House video took scenes from Florida, Texas, South Carolina and Nebraska and lied that they showed "Chicago is in chaos."
factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....
factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....
October 16, 2025 at 2:07 PM
A terrific AFP fact check uses reverse image searches to expose how a White House video took scenes from Florida, Texas, South Carolina and Nebraska and lied that they showed "Chicago is in chaos."
factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....
factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....
I guess one king is ok
October 18, 2025 at 9:12 PM
I guess one king is ok
Congratulations to Saman
October 15, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Congratulations to Saman
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.
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
October 13, 2025 at 1:10 PM
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.
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.
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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October 13, 2025 at 2:12 AM
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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Reposted by Ian Foster
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.
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
October 7, 2025 at 8:26 PM
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.
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.
Reposted by Ian Foster
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
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
October 6, 2025 at 9:58 PM
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
trib.al/9Sxu9IN
"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...
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
October 6, 2025 at 4:29 PM
"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...
sc25.supercomputing.org/2025/10/last...
Reposted by Ian Foster
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.
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...
osc.gov/Services/Pag...
How to File a Hatch Act Complaint
osc.gov
October 6, 2025 at 1:14 AM
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.
Reposted by Ian Foster
History repeats.
October 4, 2025 at 6:54 AM
History repeats.
Reposted by Ian Foster
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 ⬇️
This program recognizes scientists making major contributions to our understanding of the planet
Learn more 🔗 in reply ⬇️
October 3, 2025 at 4:30 PM
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 ⬇️
This program recognizes scientists making major contributions to our understanding of the planet
Learn more 🔗 in reply ⬇️
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?
October 3, 2025 at 2:52 AM
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?
Reposted by Ian Foster
I donate to them, and I think everyone who can should. donate.wikimedia.org
October 2, 2025 at 5:26 AM
I donate to them, and I think everyone who can should. donate.wikimedia.org
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
September 29, 2025 at 6:24 PM
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
Reposted by Ian Foster
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
September 26, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Chicago now powers EVERY city-owned building – from airports to police stations – with renewable energy. That includes O’Hare airport. ⚡🌞 #CleanEnergy
Reposted by Ian Foster
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."
"The results show the damage that cuts in funding can do to research, and the unpredictable nature of the research process."
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
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
September 25, 2025 at 2:49 PM
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."
"The results show the damage that cuts in funding can do to research, and the unpredictable nature of the research process."
Reposted by Ian Foster
🚀 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
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
September 25, 2025 at 6:28 PM
🚀 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
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
Reposted by Ian Foster
🔥 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...
Access Details: github.com/facebookrese...
September 24, 2025 at 4:41 PM
🔥 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...
Access Details: github.com/facebookrese...