Quanta Magazine interviewed physicist Sidney Nagel, who is known for his research in everyday occurrences and capturing the processes in images.

Some pushback came because a few people did not consider certain subjects I studied to be “serious.” Others were upset because I was emphasizing what seemed to them unscientific aspects. We could have captured the same physics without working nearly as hard as we did to perfect the photography, and this made people upset. They said, “You’re a scientist, you’re not supposed to care about things like that.” But it matters to me that you appeal to as many aspects of the human endeavor as you can.

That’s why, for me, the idea of having tenure is such a meaningful thing. Most places wouldn’t have encouraged this stuff, but Chicago has been very good to me. I mean, would you give tenure to someone who’s studying coffee stains?

We are seeing in real-time why the National Weather Service, a part of NOAA, grows in importance as extreme weather grows more common. Currently, shown in the map of alerts above:

A Moderate Risk of flash flooding has been issued for central Texas for ongoing impactful flash flooding, which may hamper recovery efforts. An enhanced risk of severe thunderstorms in effect for portions of the Plains today. Severe wind gusts and damaging hail are the main threats. T.D. Chantal continues across the Mid-Atlantic with local flash flooding possible. Extreme heat in the West.

Stay safe.

Alex Tomlinson illustrated backyard sounds of a cardinal, goldfinch, blue jay, mourning dove, and red-bellied woodpecker. “Various, very subjective interpretations of bird calls.”

For more bird-related art, Tomlinson has an online shop, which includes a magnet with the above.

Last week marked 18 years of FlowingData.

That seems like a long time, especially on the internet. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.

There have been books. There have been many analyses and charts. There have been many shared projects.

Still, my notebooks overflow and I’m excited about projects in the works. I grow more curious about data, analysis, and visualization with every new project, big and small.

I feel lucky. I feel grateful.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for supporting.

Let’s run it back.

Some deadlines come unexpected, some come staggered, and some come on a fixed schedule. They all shift the flow of work. Harriet Hand and Keri Facer, as part of their workshop on how we use time, illustrated the different types of deadlines.

You can also get the above in print.

There are great airports and there are really bad ones. Which one you get depends on your origin and destination. The Washington Post ranked over 450 U.S. airports to find the best, based on reader survey responses and Yelp reviews. Instead of just landing on the most popular airports, the focus is on what travelers value most, such as how easy it is to get to the terminal.

Portland International topped the list. I was just at Long Beach Airport, which was number two, and it’s definitely a different feel from all other airports I’ve been to. It’s an oddly relaxing experience.

WaPo also provides a map tool so that you can search for airports in your area. I actually saw the tool before the article and was so confused why they kept referencing ranks without showing an ordered list.

Jen Christiansen and Meghan Bartels provide a quick reference for Scientific American:

Kennedy’s decision to replace ACIP wholesale and the comments he has made about deviating from standard vaccine policymaking practice suggest that new recommendations won’t be backed by established vaccine science—hence our reproduction of the vaccine recommendations as of the end of 2024.

There are tables for young children, older children, and adults. Green represents a recommendation for everyone. Yellow represents a recommendation for a subset.

It’s annoying that this is necessary, but it is necessary. It seems wise to keep watch on how these reproduced tables compare against shifting CDC recommendations.

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver digs into AI slop. It’s the fake generated stuff filling our feeds with content, inevitably leading us to question our existence and whether this internet thing was really all worth it.
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