Mira Rojanasakul

The minimalist/web brutalist style appears directly copied from ssi.inc's own manifesto about "Safe Superintelligence" from over a year ago. h/t @1wheel.bsky.social

In a Reversal, Key Hurricane-Monitoring Data Will Stay Online

The Department of Defense said it will cancel plans to discontinue a program that makes public satellite data that is crucial for hurricane forecasting and sea ice monitoring.

The decision is the latest about-face in the agency’s plans for the data.

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/c...

Graph of depth to groundwater in a well, showing sudden water level oscillations of up to about 1 foot, starting around 7:45PM eastern on July 29, 2025.

Look at that hydrograph! This is from a USGS monitoring well in Christiansburg, Montgomery County, VA. Observation well 27F2 SOW 019 is 450' deep, completed in carbonate rocks of the Elbrook Formation and well known for its response to quakes.

⚒️🧪

Data: waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-l...

A World of Misery, From 200 Miles Up

On one of the most unbelievable satellite images I've ever seen, showing hundreds of Palestinians surrounding aid trucks north of Rafah.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/w...

A Columbia genocide scholar says she may leave over university's new definition of antisemitism Academics around the country are raising alarm about growing efforts to define antisemitism on terms pushed by the Trump administration.

One of the most prominent scholars of historical memory in the field of Jewish Studies, who teaches at Columbia, fears she will no longer be able to teach Hannah Arendt with the new federal government control over the university: apnews.com/article/colu...

Hurricane Science Was Great While It Lasted The U.S. is hacking away at support for state-of-the-art forecasting.

Just a year ago, the U.S. was better at predicting storms’ tracks than it had ever been. But now, the country is rapidly losing state-of-the-art #forecasting, just in time for #hurricane season’s busiest months: #Wx #SSMIS www.theatlantic.com/science/arch...

Mass starvation stalks Gaza as deaths from hunger rise Aid agencies warned for months that Israel’s harsh limits on food aid would bring acute malnutrition and widespread suffering to Gaza’s 2.1 million people.

Gaza faces a severe humanitarian crisis as Israeli restrictions on aid lead to widespread malnutrition and starvation, with hospitals overwhelmed by malnourished children.

Disabled Americans Fear What Medicaid Cuts Could Do to Them

Popping in briefly from vacation to share my latest: Here's how the ~$1 trillion in Medicaid cuts in Republicans' newly passed law could threaten the home- and community-based care that many Americans with disabilities rely on.

An unbearably sad statement from the Editorial Committee (SDJ) of the AFP news agency, please read:

"Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die.
AFP has been working with 1 writer, 3 photographers and 6 videographers, all freelance, in the Gaza Strip… /1

Donate to PBS

If you want to donate to a PBS station in a state that needs it the most, I made a list of all of the donation pages and a legend with how much of their budget relies on federal funding
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Without weather forecasters, our canaries in the storm, expect disaster This purge isn’t “cutting waste,” it’s dismantling America’s hurricane monitoring systems.

"The private sector cannot fill this void. The National Weather Service processes over 6 billion observations daily and issues approximately 1.5 million forecasts and 50,000 warnings annually.

No private entity possesses infrastructure that can match this scale and reliability."

CBS axes ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’ following host’s criticism of Trump settlement The most recent ratings from Nielsen show Colbert as winning his timeslot, with about 2.417 million viewers across 41 new episodes.

The most recent ratings from Nielsen show Colbert as winning his timeslot, with about 2.417 million viewers across 41 new episodes.

Here's Why There's So Much Flash Flooding in the U.S. Right Now July’s hot temperatures and moist air are the perfect ingredients for rain.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Historical Tech Tree Interactive visualization of technological history

Historical tech tree www.historicaltechtree.com

The 28th st station is built on top of an ancient stream that drains the slightly higher ground to the east. (1865 Viele map via davidrumsey.com)

FDA Layoffs Could Compromise Safety of Medications Made at Foreign Factories, Inspectors Say Beyond staff cuts, the departures of some longtime investigators in recent months have left less experienced people tasked with rooting out dangerous manufacturing practices.

In April, more than 3,500 FDA employees were laid off. While some jobs have been reinstated, the loss of support staff has compromised the agency’s inspections of foreign factories, some investigators say.

Chlorine gas leak prompts evacuations, trail closures at Grand Canyon National Park Areas of the Grand Canyon National Park were closed Saturday after a fire at a water treatment facility led to a chlorine gas leak , prompting evacuations on Sa

A wildfire burned a water treatment plant at Grand Canyon, releasing deadly chlorine gas. The NOAA HYSPLIT model “currently indicates no critical threat to nearby communities” but multiple trails and Phantom Ranch were closed. The NOAA lab that runs HYSPLIT is on the chopping block.

Congresswoman tracks down U.S. citizen children detained at Ferndale facility The kids and their mother have been held at the facility for nearly two weeks without any contact with legal representation or charges being filed, their lawyer says.

Jesus Christ...

www.bellinghamherald.com/news/politic...

“Experts say Camp Mystic’s requests to amend the FEMA map could have been an attempt to avoid the requirement to carry flood insurance, to lower the camp’s insurance premiums or to pave the way for renovating” at lower cost

A chart that shows leadership vacancies within National Weather Service regional and local offices have more than doubled in 2025 compared to previous years. Since 2017, these vacancies have ranged from 14 to 32.

Overall leadership vacancies across at local and regional NWS forecast offices:

(Also 🎁 link!) www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

In Flash Flood Hotspots Like Texas, Many Federal Meteorologist Positions Remain Unfilled An analysis of National Weather Service job vacancies found that in more than a third of offices overseeing flash flood hotspots, one or more of three senior leadership roles are open.

Vacancies in National Weather Service leadership roles are more than double what they were last year. The Houston office is missing its entire top tier of managers.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/... w/ Hiroko Tabuchi

A U.S. tile map that depicts the measles vaccination rate for kindergarteners (according to CDC data) in each state from 2013 to 2023. A key explains that for each state, a gray dotted line represents the benchmark for herd immunity: a 95% vaccination rate. Vaccination rates above 95% are shown in blue, while vaccination rates below 95% are shown in orange. Looking at the full map, the trend lines lean much more orange than blue. Measles vaccination rates in most states were below herd immunity in school year 2023-2024.

Federal kindergarten vaccination data shows national rates for four major vaccines, which had held steady before the COVID-19 pandemic, have fallen significantly since.

In fact, measles vaccination rates were below herd immunity in most states in 2023.

➡️ Read more: propub.li/40KnM8n

Great story/charts from @lydiadepillis.bsky.social @christinezhang.bsky.social on how health care ate the American economy. This pair of maps is especially striking. #EconSky
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

FEMA response to deadly Texas floods delayed & deficient with Noem in charge Staffers sound the alarm.

NEW from me — FEMA staffers say the response to the Texas floods is horrifyingly slow, and it may be because of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem's recent increased control over how the agency spends money.

"If this is how they are going to do a major hurricane response, people are fucked.”

As Floods Hit, Key Roles Were Vacant at Weather Service Offices in Texas (Gift Article) Some experts say staff shortages might have complicated forecasters’ ability to coordinate responses with local emergency management officials.

"The National Weather Service’s San Angelo office, which is responsible for some of the areas hit hardest by Friday’s flooding, was missing a senior hydrologist, staff forecaster and meteorologist in charge," according to its union's legislative director. 🎁 🔗

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/05/u...

As Floods Hit, Key Roles Were Vacant at Weather Service Offices in Texas

Forecasts were fine but new information emerging on major NWS staff shortages (doubled since Jan) in Texas offices that may have hindered communication with local emergency officials. Also, learning there was no local warning system in affected areas. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/05/u...

AMERICA HAS A HOT GARBAGE PROBLEM. LITERALLY. A THREAD

1/ Last year, I spotted some data on LinkedIn that caught my attention. Fires at recycling facilities were skyrocketing as more vape pens, smartphones and electric toothbrushes enter America’s blue bins

America’s Overheated Landfills Have Been Making People Sick Beneath layers of waste, landfills around the US have been reaching scorching temperatures, spewing toxic gases and geysers of trash juice.

Masterful, infuriating story from @mslaurabliss.bsky.social & @rachaeldottle.bsky.social. The insane part is the burning garbage & its impact on people. But they don't shy away from loads of important context, nuance & science! A+ explanatory journalism. Gift link www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

For those looking for the National Climate Assessments:

NCA5 (2023): repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/61...
NCA4 vol. 1 (2017): repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/19...
NCA4 vol. 2 (2018): repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/19...
NCA3 (2014): repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/19...

The White House has ordered the US Dept. of Justice to prioritize denaturalization: voiding the citizenship of US citizens.

Who will it denaturalize? "Any" case that it "determines to be sufficiently important".

Point 10 leaves the criteria opaque and arbitrary.

substack.com/redirect/169...