Chris Marcum 📖

Anonymous Whistleblower Disclosure Form - Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs “*” indicates required fields Title—Mr.Mrs.Ms.Mr. and Mrs.MissDr.Dr. and Mrs.Dr. and Mr.AdmiralCaptainChief Master SergeantColonelCommanderCorporalFatherGeneralLieutenantLieutenant ColonelMajorMaster ...

If you are a federal employee fired via RIF notice or want to share information about misconduct in the Administration, Ranking Member @peters.senate.gov wants to hear your story. We will protect all whistleblowers' personal information.

www.hsgac.senate.gov/contact/demo...

Mohawk on the Hill! Had a productive day today discussing data and science policy and federal worker capacity challenges with members of Congress and their staff. . Original post bridged here.

Next week, I'll join fellow Data Foundation Senior Fellow and former chief of data.gov Hyon Kim in a webinar to discuss what's been going on with the nation's federal data catalog.

🚨 Federal workers - if you're still furloughed by next Tuesday and want to attend please (re)register with your […]

The White House is Out of Order A photograph of an out of order sign in front of the doors in the new executive office building courtyard on the White House campus. Photo is CC-BY 2025 Chris Marcum

A few contacts reached out to ask about the "Out of Order" photo I posted alongside the dataindex.us blog post yesterday. It's available here for you to share and use for free under a Creative Commons CC-BY (attribution only) license:

https://flic.kr/p/2rwZoqM

You have #shutdown questions?

Our friends @csmarcum.bsky.social and @datageekb.bsky.social talked through the answers over at @dataindex.us

A photograph of an out of order sign in front of the doors in the new executive office building courtyard on the White House campus. Photo is CC-BY 2025 Chris Marcum

I had a great conversation with my academic sibling, Beth Jarosz on the dataindex.us team, all about what happens to federal data when the government is out of order during a shutdown.

https://dataindex.us/newsletter/article/3362b9b8-a993-4741-92a9-25c720adeb7a

I had a great conversation with my academic sibling, Beth Jarosz on the dataindex.us team, all about what happens to federal data when the government is out of order during a shutdown.

https://dataindex.us/newsletter/article/3362b9b8-a993-4741-92a9-25c720adeb7a . Original post bridged here.

National AI Ambitions Need a Data Governance Backbone. RDaF Can Provide It. | TechPolicy.Press Eva Campo and Christopher Steven Marcum argue that data governance is the missing layer for US AI leadership.

"Where compute brings capability, data governance builds trust."

Eva Campo and I call for stronger, more transparent, data governance for AI in our Tech Policy Press today.

https://www.techpolicy.press/national-ai-ambitions-need-a-data-governance-backbone-rdaf-can-provide-it/

LinkedIn This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

AAAS and American Geophysical Union have issued statements on the shutdown and how bad it is for science.

https://lnkd.in/eSaxk2Et

https://lnkd.in/eyX8fBVi

Displaced workers: If you're looking for a gig while searching for a full-time job, Mercor has a lot of roles open for short-term projects leveraging broad subject matter expertise to improve AI systems (they need diverse input from legal perspectives, to statistics, to poets). The pay is decent […]

Thank you!

AAAS and American Geophysical Union have issued statements on the shutdown and how bad it is for science.

https://lnkd.in/eSaxk2Et

https://lnkd.in/eyX8fBVi . Original post bridged here.

AAAS and the Science Magazine family of journals have responded to The National Institutes of Health APC RFI:
https://www.aaas.org/news/response-nih-public-access-policy . Original post bridged here.

Jack-o-Lantern mushrooms are popping up just in time for spooky season in Maryland. These can bioluminesce.
(Omphalotus sp.) . Original post bridged here.

Today is the final day at #OSFAIR2025 at CERN kudos to the entire @osfair team for such a successful and impactful event. #openscience . Original post bridged here.

Beautiful. Congrats, my friend.

The Evidence Act requires agencies to expand access to their federal data assets. It is absolutely wasteful, if not unlawful, for U.S. Census Bureau to produce data that it then hides from the public. Jon Freeman and Democracy Forward are fighting to make sure that federal investments in LGBTQ+ […]

Response on NIH public access policy | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

AAAS and the Science Magazine family of journals have responded to The National Institutes of Health APC RFI:
https://www.aaas.org/news/response-nih-public-access-policy

Winner of mRNA Nobel Prize says ACIP member’s claim that Covid vaccines persist is 'absolutely impossible' In a Q&A with STAT, Nobel winner Drew Weissman addressed concerns raised about Covid shots at a recent meeting of federal vaccine advisers.

This👇!

"What these people do, is that they search, they find one paper or two papers that make an outlandish claim based on bad data that hundreds or thousands or tens of thousands of other papers refute."

Claim Covid vaccines persist is ‘absolutely impossible’ www.statnews.com/2025/09/20/d...

In addition to providing the closing keynote at @osfair , I had the privilege of joining colleagues on a panel about the strange bedfellows of #openscience organized by my kickass friend Sara Rouhi. No holds barred in this frank discussion about efforts to co-opt the movement by distasteful […]

Orange mushrooms around a log.

Jack-o-Lantern mushrooms are popping up just in time for spooky season in Maryland. These can bioluminesce.
(Omphalotus sp.)

With the Em Dash, A.I. Embraces a Fading Tradition

Okay, this is tough for me. The em dash has long been one of my writing ticks! (Drives my editors bonkers.)

I'm not a robot. Honest.

With the Em Dash, A.I. Embraces a Fading Tradition www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/m...

:Product: 3-Day Forecast :Issued: 2025 Sep 19 0030 UTC # Prepared by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center # A. NOAA Geomagnetic Activity Observation and Forecast The greatest observed 3 hr Kp over the past 24 hours was 2 (below NOAA Scale levels). The greatest expected 3 hr Kp for Sep 19-Sep 21 2025 is 4.33 (below NOAA Scale levels). NOAA Kp index breakdown Sep 19-Sep 21 2025 Sep 19 Sep 20 Sep 21 00-03UT 1.67 1.67 1.67 03-06UT 1.33 1.33 1.33 06-09UT 1.33 1.33 1.33 09-12UT 1.33 1.33 2.33 12-15UT 1.33 1.33 3.00 15-18UT 1.33 1.33 3.33 18-21UT 1.67 1.67 4.00 21-00UT 1.67 1.67 4.33 Rationale: No G1 (Minor) or greater geomagnetic storms are expected. No significant transient or recurrent solar wind features are forecast. B. NOAA Solar Radiation Activity Observation and Forecast Solar radiation, as observed by NOAA GOES-18 over the past 24 hours, was below S-scale storm level thresholds. Solar Radiation Storm Forecast for Sep 19-Sep 21 2025 Sep 19 Sep 20 Sep 21 S1 or greater 1% 1% 1% Rationale: No S1 (Minor) or greater solar radiation storms are expected. No significant active region activity favorable for radiation storm production is forecast. C. NOAA Radio Blackout Activity and Forecast No radio blackouts were observed over the past 24 hours. Radio Blackout Forecast for Sep 19-Sep 21 2025 Sep 19 Sep 20 Sep 21 R1-R2 35% 35% 35% R3 or greater 1% 1% 1% Rationale: There remains a chance for isolated R1-R2 (Minor-Moderate) radio blackouts through 21 Sep.

Map from NOAA titled showing North America and the North Pole with a color gradient overlay of aurora likelihood.

Map from NOAA titled showing North America and the North Pole with a color gradient overlay of aurora likelihood.

Aurora Forecast Update for 2025-09-19T07:04:01Z
Additional Details Here.

CC-BY Christopher Steven Marcum 2025 Photograph of stainless steel sculpture titled "wandering the immeasurable" by artist Gayle Hermick

Today is the final day at #OSFAIR2025 at CERN kudos to the entire @osfair team for such a successful and impactful event. #openscience

Congratulations to Kamran Naim, PhD and the CERN Open Science team on the release of their Open Science Report : 2023/2024

https://cds.cern.ch/record/2942000/files/fulltext.pdf . Original post bridged here.

PREreview responded to the NIH RFI on controlling costs associated with scholarly publishing today:

https://zenodo.org/records/17101620 . Original post bridged here.

A nice story on the entertainment value of improbable gambling outcomes:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/powerball-jackpot-hits-usd1-3-billion-but-is-your-usd2-bet-worth-it/ . Original post bridged here.

@NSF is taking a huge step backward in its AI strategy by cancelling the AI2ES program.

https://balancedweather.substack.com/p/nsf-terminates-funding-for-its-main . Original post bridged here.

:Product: 3-Day Forecast :Issued: 2025 Sep 03 0030 UTC # Prepared by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center # A. NOAA Geomagnetic Activity Observation and Forecast The greatest observed 3 hr Kp over the past 24 hours was 5 (NOAA Scale G1). The greatest expected 3 hr Kp for Sep 03-Sep 05 2025 is 4.67 (NOAA Scale G1). NOAA Kp index breakdown Sep 03-Sep 05 2025 Sep 03 Sep 04 Sep 05 00-03UT 4.33 2.67 2.33 03-06UT 4.67 (G1) 2.33 2.00 06-09UT 4.00 2.00 2.33 09-12UT 3.67 1.67 2.33 12-15UT 3.33 1.67 2.33 15-18UT 2.67 2.00 2.67 18-21UT 2.67 2.00 3.00 21-00UT 2.67 2.33 3.67 Rationale: G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storms are likely on 03 Sep due to continued CME influences. B. NOAA Solar Radiation Activity Observation and Forecast Solar radiation, as observed by NOAA GOES-18 over the past 24 hours, was below S-scale storm level thresholds. Solar Radiation Storm Forecast for Sep 03-Sep 05 2025 Sep 03 Sep 04 Sep 05 S1 or greater 10% 10% 10% Rationale: There is a slight chance for a greater than 10 MeV proton event reaching the S1 (Minor) levels on 03-05 Sep with a large event from AR 4197 being the most likely threat. C. NOAA Radio Blackout Activity and Forecast No radio blackouts were observed over the past 24 hours. Radio Blackout Forecast for Sep 03-Sep 05 2025 Sep 03 Sep 04 Sep 05 R1-R2 55% 55% 55% R3 or greater 15% 15% 15% Rationale: M-class flares (R1-R2/Minor-Moderate) are likely, with a slight chance for an X-class flare (R3-Strong or greater), through 05 Sep primarily due to the flare potential exhibited from AR 4197.

Map from NOAA titled showing North America and the North Pole with a color gradient overlay of aurora likelihood.

Map from NOAA titled showing North America and the North Pole with a color gradient overlay of aurora likelihood.

Aurora Forecast Update for 2025-09-03T07:04:01Z
Additional Details Here.

20 years ago today, Hurricane Katrina made it's devastating landfall. With the Trump Administration on the unconscionable precipice of eliminating FEMA, here's a reminder of the agency's critical coordination role at the center of interorganizational disaster […]

[Original post on sciences.social]