Paul Wennberg

Obvious ai manipulation on the left. Original photo by David Batcheller on the right. Look at the wings, feather shape, head, neck and bill shape, lack of tail etc. This is way more than a filter and absolutely destroys the joy and wonder of the original.

So loads of people are sharing an obvious ai "glow up" of an actual photo. I never share ai stuff even to dunk, but in this case I'm sharing a comparison to show the problem. We have to stand against this slop at every level or it becomes normalised. They want us to stop caring. See alt text.

Was thinking mostly about having an experienced crew and supply chain that can just move across the Valley and keep going. I believe the plan for metro is a (large) single bore?

Wonder if the Sepulveda tunnel diameter is sufficiently large to accommodate double track for the Siemens train (at low speed). Might be able to start with just a single tunnel using existing TBM and crew once they finish digging for LA metro - probably add only ~5 min to the trip time vs 200 mph.

The hot in the west was hotter than the cold in the east was cold.
#climatechange

Data centers can play nice with the grid if they come with battery storage. Tesla has done a good job highlighting this in their Megapack materials.

What will it take for this to be more widely known?

Great group of chemists.

Incredible work from @caltechlcssp.bsky.social Board Member, @cfranken.bsky.social, @caltech.edu and @nasajpl.bsky.social!

For more information - github.com/RemoteSensin...

A cartoon by Paul Noth. See all the cartoons in this week’s issue: newyorkermag.visitlink.me/Uh2urE

50% higher than that compact country known as Canada.

AGU mourns the passing of Michael McElroy, a towering figure in atmospheric and climate science.

His six decades of research helped shape global environmental policy and inspired generations of scientists.

His legacy will endure.

buff.ly/KCHS5Mb

BNEF: Battery storage costs hit record low despite 2025 clean tech headwinds However costs of battery storage, solar and wind are all still set to fall by 2035 despite last year's price flux, according to BloombergNEF

"The global benchmark cost for a four-hour battery project fell 27% year-on-year to $78 per megawatt-hour in 2025, marking a record low since BloombergNEF began tracking such costs in 2009." www.businessgreen.com/news/4525816... via @stuartstone.bsky.social 🔌💡

Pollutant Lead Mobility in Forest Soils of the Northeastern United States Evaluated with a 40-Year Resampling Study - Water, Air, & Soil Pollution Lead (Pb) is a toxic metal that was dispersed by humans worldwide largely through Pb gasoline combustion. Regional scale long-term datasets detecting changes and processes governing pollutant Pb pools...

40 years of forest soil lead shows automobile Pb has decreased but still present across the northeast US. Very happy to have published this work with great colleagues
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

"When staffers at the air district reached out to a small sample of people to verify their comments, at least three said they had not written to the agency and were not aware of any such messages, records show."

Neighbor dog walked into house on thanksgiving with a fully cooked turkey in his mouth, and no one knows where it came from.

Good dog, I guess ...

A bright rainbow above a field of desert dandelions (closed up due mostly due to high wind/rain) this afternoon.

A bright rainbow above a field of desert dandelions this afternoon. Some areas around Anza-Borrego have already received almost 0.2" of rain today (Photo: Sicco Rood).

Yes, they would have had to remove and transport back to the VA.

Wonder what it would have cost to keep the TBM running after they reached the VA.

Nytimes tells me to buy 6063 T6

Algorithm starting to know exactly how to increase my endorphins.

Meanwhile in Los Angeles. bsky.app/profile/stre...

I am heartbroken to learn to George Rossman has passed away - George was not only a brilliant chemist turned geoscientist, but also had an exceptionally good taste in methods - Raman + FT-IR spectroscopy - and cookies ... [1/3]

www.gia.edu/gia-news-pre...

The last bullet. 😘

Caltech Mourns the Passing of George Rossman (1944–2026) Caltech mineralogist George Rossman (PhD '71) passed away on February 6, 2026.

Such a great colleague. We bonded over our common interest in FTIR spectrometry (and other things). His memory is a blessing.

www.caltech.edu/about/news/c...

Caltech Mourns the Passing of George Rossman (1944–2026) Caltech mineralogist George Rossman (PhD '71) passed away on February 6, 2026.

Passing along the news to the geology community. ⚒️

During my time at Caltech, I could always count on George for friendly greetings, a positive attitude, and odd yet delightful remarks.
www.caltech.edu/about/news/c...

Frequent electrified service would also obviate the need for further eastward extension of the A Line saving billions.

Until today one of the main reasons I had a subscription. Sad.

Philanthropy Needs to Pick a Side on the Housing Construction Debate Despite California’s severe housing shortage, foundations are still funding on the wrong side of the housing fight there, guest author Ned Resnikoff writes.

If you're ever wondering why Los Angeles is so dysfunctional, one reasons is that there's a whole ecosystem of groups like this that are funded by taxpayers (!) and big, old-money foundations that are asleep at the wheel. From @resnikoff.bsky.social: www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/philant...

Be a hero @nytimes.com, hire the @capitalweather.bsky.social group.

Have you attended an eccon seminar? I was really shocked by the culture of interruption. It’s like an oral exam on steroids.

Proud Paul with Maria. Maria gave me a red flowers - a tradition in China.

Congratulations to Hongmin (Maria) Yu who successfully and expertly defended her thesis "Exploring Atmospheric Autoxidation of Organic Emission from Volatile Chemical Products". Thanks to @jessekroll.bsky.social, and @caltech.edu Profs Mitchio Okumura, and Rick Flagan for serving on her committee.

Rolling, but rolling with Texmaco.