Aaswath Raman
@aaswath.bsky.social
Associate Prof @UCLA in Materials Science and Engineering. http://www.aaswathraman.com
I'm.. randomly.. remembering the Newfoundland referendums of 1948: "President Harry S. Truman's administration had little incentive to pursue annexation. With respect to foreign policy, such a territorial ambition would have only served to antagonize two key allies." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Ne...
1948 Newfoundland referendums - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
January 6, 2026 at 10:40 PM
I'm.. randomly.. remembering the Newfoundland referendums of 1948: "President Harry S. Truman's administration had little incentive to pursue annexation. With respect to foreign policy, such a territorial ambition would have only served to antagonize two key allies." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Ne...
Reposted by Aaswath Raman
Grateful to share our paper on gene-specific selective sweeps in human gut microbiomes, now out in Nature! It has been a joy to work with @rwolff.bsky.social, whose insights and hard work made this possible.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Gene-specific selective sweeps are pervasive across human gut microbiomes - Nature
Development and application of the integrated linkage disequilibrium score (iLDS) reveals both selective pressures impacting the human gut microbiome and the mechanisms by which gut bacteria adapt to ...
www.nature.com
December 17, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Grateful to share our paper on gene-specific selective sweeps in human gut microbiomes, now out in Nature! It has been a joy to work with @rwolff.bsky.social, whose insights and hard work made this possible.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Aaswath Raman
I was on a DARPA project with a program officer who came from industry and didn't go to grad school
One day the program officer told us that before working at DARPA, he thought universities were inefficient, but now was shocked at how much we and other university performers got done for so little $
One day the program officer told us that before working at DARPA, he thought universities were inefficient, but now was shocked at how much we and other university performers got done for so little $
For all the criticism of universities, my guess is that - absent a Bell labs or long term philanthropic donor - they will rediscover the financial logic behind the university “bundle”. Related point: universities need to advertise that they are very cheap R&D!!
December 12, 2025 at 10:43 PM
I was on a DARPA project with a program officer who came from industry and didn't go to grad school
One day the program officer told us that before working at DARPA, he thought universities were inefficient, but now was shocked at how much we and other university performers got done for so little $
One day the program officer told us that before working at DARPA, he thought universities were inefficient, but now was shocked at how much we and other university performers got done for so little $
Well this is getting confusing, there’s a new (Wiley) journal also named Nanophotonics: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/2192... not to be confused with the established De Gruyter one: www.degruyterbrill.com/journal/key/...
November 13, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Well this is getting confusing, there’s a new (Wiley) journal also named Nanophotonics: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/2192... not to be confused with the established De Gruyter one: www.degruyterbrill.com/journal/key/...
If students are getting 4.0s in their high schools math classes but unable to do 1st-8th grade math, the SAT has to be back on the table (as it already is at many other places). www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-t...
UC San Diego Sees Students’ Math Skills Plummet
The number of first-year students at the University of California, San Diego, whose math skills fall below a middle school level has increased nearly 30-fold over the past five years, according to a n...
www.insidehighered.com
November 12, 2025 at 11:22 PM
If students are getting 4.0s in their high schools math classes but unable to do 1st-8th grade math, the SAT has to be back on the table (as it already is at many other places). www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-t...
Reposted by Aaswath Raman
Here's a poem by one of the old Chinese scholar bureaucrats that I think captures a certain Vibe very well
July 24, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Here's a poem by one of the old Chinese scholar bureaucrats that I think captures a certain Vibe very well
New preprint! Turns out that there is a thermal penalty to harvesting longer wavelength solar photons when your operating temperature is constrained by your radiating surface area (ie: in space). arxiv.org/abs/2506.16588
The Thermal Cost of Harvesting the Solar Infrared Tail in Space-Based Photovoltaics
Space applications require the highest performing photovoltaic devices. Typically these are multi-junction devices that are capable of converting a larger bandwidth of the solar spectrum. However, the...
arxiv.org
June 23, 2025 at 4:29 PM
New preprint! Turns out that there is a thermal penalty to harvesting longer wavelength solar photons when your operating temperature is constrained by your radiating surface area (ie: in space). arxiv.org/abs/2506.16588
Reposted by Aaswath Raman
We have a new preprint on arXiv, "Passive radiative cooling using temperature-dependent emissivity can sometimes outperform static emitters", led by Yeonghoon Jin
We show how one can design a thermal emitter with temperature-dependent emissivity to optimize radiative-cooling performance 💡🧪
We show how one can design a thermal emitter with temperature-dependent emissivity to optimize radiative-cooling performance 💡🧪
Passive radiative cooling using temperature-dependent emissivity can sometimes outperform static emitters
In passive sky-facing radiative cooling, wavelength-selective thermal emitters in the atmospheric transparency window of 8-13 $μ$m can reach lower temperatures compared to broadband emitters, but broa...
arxiv.org
June 19, 2025 at 5:39 PM
We have a new preprint on arXiv, "Passive radiative cooling using temperature-dependent emissivity can sometimes outperform static emitters", led by Yeonghoon Jin
We show how one can design a thermal emitter with temperature-dependent emissivity to optimize radiative-cooling performance 💡🧪
We show how one can design a thermal emitter with temperature-dependent emissivity to optimize radiative-cooling performance 💡🧪
Reposted by Aaswath Raman
John Tyler became US president in 1841.
His youngest grandson just died this past weekend.
www.richmonder.org/harrison-ruf...
His youngest grandson just died this past weekend.
www.richmonder.org/harrison-ruf...
Harrison Ruffin Tyler, grandson of 10th U.S. president and longtime Richmonder, dies at 96
The Richmond resident, preservationist and chemical engineer, for whom William & Mary’s history department is named, also had the distinction of being the grandson of a man who became U.S. president i...
www.richmonder.org
May 28, 2025 at 7:47 PM
John Tyler became US president in 1841.
His youngest grandson just died this past weekend.
www.richmonder.org/harrison-ruf...
His youngest grandson just died this past weekend.
www.richmonder.org/harrison-ruf...
Reposted by Aaswath Raman
New online! Efficient outdoor thermal comfort via radiant cooling and infrared-reflective walls
Efficient outdoor thermal comfort via radiant cooling and infrared-reflective walls
Nature Sustainability, Published online: 05 May 2025; doi:10.1038/s41893-025-01558-0Active radiant cooling is an emerging technology that consumes less energy than traditional air conditioning. This work demonstrates an outdoor radiant cooling structure incorporating infrared-reflective surfaces that delivers enhanced thermal comfort.
bit.ly
May 7, 2025 at 1:16 PM
New online! Efficient outdoor thermal comfort via radiant cooling and infrared-reflective walls
How can we keep people safe outdoors in extreme heat? In a paper out today in @naturesustain.bsky.social we demonstrate that active radiant cooling and IR-reflective walls can deliver thermal comfort and be accepted by members of heat-vulnerable communities. rdcu.be/ekMzN
Efficient outdoor thermal comfort via radiant cooling and infrared-reflective walls
Nature Sustainability - Active radiant cooling is an emerging technology that consumes less energy than traditional air conditioning. This work demonstrates an outdoor radiant cooling structure...
rdcu.be
May 5, 2025 at 9:55 PM
How can we keep people safe outdoors in extreme heat? In a paper out today in @naturesustain.bsky.social we demonstrate that active radiant cooling and IR-reflective walls can deliver thermal comfort and be accepted by members of heat-vulnerable communities. rdcu.be/ekMzN
Reposted by Aaswath Raman
Why Lawrence of Arabia Still Looks Like a Billion Bucks. “I got to see Lawrence of Arabia on a big screen last fall and it was stunning — the colors, the amount of detail, the cinematography in general.” [kottke.org]
Why Lawrence of Arabia Still Looks Like a Billion Bucks
Even after 60+ years, Lawrence of Arabia is one of the best-looking films out there; this video explores why. I got to see Lawrence of Arabia on a big screen last fall and it was stunning — the colors, the amount of de
kottke.org
May 1, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Why Lawrence of Arabia Still Looks Like a Billion Bucks. “I got to see Lawrence of Arabia on a big screen last fall and it was stunning — the colors, the amount of detail, the cinematography in general.” [kottke.org]
Reposted by Aaswath Raman
is ds9 called terok nor again
April 26, 2025 at 4:31 PM
is ds9 called terok nor again
It is notable that Steve Blank felt that he had to write this, but a sign of the times... steveblank.com/2025/04/15/h...
Steve Blank How the U.S. Became A Science Superpower
Prior to WWII the U.S was a distant second in science and engineering. By the time the war was over, U.S. science and engineering had blown past the British, and led the world for 85 years. It happ…
steveblank.com
April 15, 2025 at 6:36 PM
It is notable that Steve Blank felt that he had to write this, but a sign of the times... steveblank.com/2025/04/15/h...
Join us in Marseille this July! 💡
☀️CALL FOR PAPERS ☀️
💡 Solar, Lighting and Thermal Photonics (SOLITH) Topical Meeting at the @optica.org Advanced Photonics Congress
🏙️ Marseille, France
📅 July 13-17, 2025
🎯 Abstract submission deadline: Tuesday, 11 March 2025.
Submit your abstract here: www.optica.org/events/congr...
💡 Solar, Lighting and Thermal Photonics (SOLITH) Topical Meeting at the @optica.org Advanced Photonics Congress
🏙️ Marseille, France
📅 July 13-17, 2025
🎯 Abstract submission deadline: Tuesday, 11 March 2025.
Submit your abstract here: www.optica.org/events/congr...
February 8, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Join us in Marseille this July! 💡
Reposted by Aaswath Raman
Power demand in the US was up 3% last year! Mostly due to greater AC use due to heat waves (hello hottest year on record), plus some "help" from data centers (and EVs). We'd better get used to it though: it's time for growth mode! We need to build new clean supply (at least) 2x as fast as load grows
We have to build new clean electricity and supporting transmission faster!
U.S. Efforts to Cut Emissions Stalled in 2024 as Power Demand Surged www.nytimes.com/2025/01/09/c...
U.S. Efforts to Cut Emissions Stalled in 2024 as Power Demand Surged www.nytimes.com/2025/01/09/c...
U.S. Efforts to Cut Emissions Stalled in 2024 as Power Demand Surged (Gift Article)
After staying flat for nearly two decades, electricity use is starting to rise again, and the boom in wind and solar power hasn’t kept pace.
www.nytimes.com
January 9, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Power demand in the US was up 3% last year! Mostly due to greater AC use due to heat waves (hello hottest year on record), plus some "help" from data centers (and EVs). We'd better get used to it though: it's time for growth mode! We need to build new clean supply (at least) 2x as fast as load grows
Reposted by Aaswath Raman
Feasibility of keeping Mars warm with nanoparticles
Feasibility of keeping Mars warm with nanoparticles
Warming Mars with artificial aerosols appears to be feasible.
www.science.org
December 6, 2024 at 5:43 AM
Feasibility of keeping Mars warm with nanoparticles
All I want for Christmas is a new preprint.. arxiv.org/abs/2412.17659
Thermo-optic tuning of directional infrared emissivity
Tuning the spatial extent of directional thermal emission across an arbitrary, and fixed spectral bandwidth is a fundamentally enabling capability for a range of emerging applications such as thermoph...
arxiv.org
December 24, 2024 at 6:30 PM
All I want for Christmas is a new preprint.. arxiv.org/abs/2412.17659
Solstice, what solstice? It's warmer on Dec. 18 (79F/ 26C) than Jun. 18 (73F/ 23C) here in the western part of LA. A testament to the power of the large thermal mass otherwise known as the Pacific Ocean!
December 18, 2024 at 7:36 PM
Solstice, what solstice? It's warmer on Dec. 18 (79F/ 26C) than Jun. 18 (73F/ 23C) here in the western part of LA. A testament to the power of the large thermal mass otherwise known as the Pacific Ocean!
“Williams’s painting conveys a proud visual message: I, Francis Williams, free Black gentleman and scholar, born in Jamaica and educated in Britain, witnessed the return of Halley’s comet and I calculated its exact trajectory, according to the rules of the third edition of Isaac Newton’s Principia.”
This is an incredible story about the long-buried, and newly rediscovered through a painting, remarkable life of 18th century black Jamaican intellectual Francis Williams www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Fara Dabhoiwala · A Man of Parts and Learning: Francis Williams Gets His Due
The only certainty about the picture is that it shows Francis Williams. No one has ever been able to discover who...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 1, 2024 at 5:43 PM
“Williams’s painting conveys a proud visual message: I, Francis Williams, free Black gentleman and scholar, born in Jamaica and educated in Britain, witnessed the return of Halley’s comet and I calculated its exact trajectory, according to the rules of the third edition of Isaac Newton’s Principia.”
Could California’s effectively deciding to drive up energy prices, partly to help build out clean energy faster, cost lives in the face of more extreme heatwaves? A sobering thought..
November 29, 2024 at 6:43 PM
Could California’s effectively deciding to drive up energy prices, partly to help build out clean energy faster, cost lives in the face of more extreme heatwaves? A sobering thought..
Reposted by Aaswath Raman
New preprint out on arXiv, "Large tuning of the optical properties of nanoscale NdNiO3 via electron doping" arxiv.org/abs/2411.15679 🧪💡
Led by Yeonghoon Jin from our lab at UW-Madison, Teng Qu from Nanfang Yu's lab at Columbia, and Siddharth Kumar from Shriram Ramanathan's lab at Rutgers
Led by Yeonghoon Jin from our lab at UW-Madison, Teng Qu from Nanfang Yu's lab at Columbia, and Siddharth Kumar from Shriram Ramanathan's lab at Rutgers
Large tuning of the optical properties of nanoscale NdNiO3 via electron doping
We synthesized crystalline films of neodymium nickel oxide (NdNiO3), a perovskite quantum material, switched the films from a metal phase (intrinsic) into an insulator phase (electron-doped) by field-...
arxiv.org
November 26, 2024 at 2:06 AM
New preprint out on arXiv, "Large tuning of the optical properties of nanoscale NdNiO3 via electron doping" arxiv.org/abs/2411.15679 🧪💡
Led by Yeonghoon Jin from our lab at UW-Madison, Teng Qu from Nanfang Yu's lab at Columbia, and Siddharth Kumar from Shriram Ramanathan's lab at Rutgers
Led by Yeonghoon Jin from our lab at UW-Madison, Teng Qu from Nanfang Yu's lab at Columbia, and Siddharth Kumar from Shriram Ramanathan's lab at Rutgers
This is wild - hundreds more yet left to discover per the authors www.nytimes.com/2024/11/23/s...
Hundreds More Nazca Lines Emerge in Peru’s Desert
With drones and A.I., researchers managed to double the number of mysterious geoglyphs in a matter of months.
www.nytimes.com
November 24, 2024 at 11:03 AM
This is wild - hundreds more yet left to discover per the authors www.nytimes.com/2024/11/23/s...
Reposted by Aaswath Raman
In a new preprint led by Dr. Parthi Santhanam we demonstrate a monolithically integrated optoelectronic platform for voltage boost conversion. Voltage conversion is a foundational power electronic capability: we show how to do it more compactly and effectively arxiv.org/abs/2410.13220 💡
Chip-scale monolithic optoelectronic voltage boost conversion
Voltage conversion is a fundamental electronic process critical to engineered systems across a wide spectrum of applications and spanning many orders of magnitude in scale. Conventional approaches lik...
arxiv.org
October 18, 2024 at 4:13 PM
In a new preprint led by Dr. Parthi Santhanam we demonstrate a monolithically integrated optoelectronic platform for voltage boost conversion. Voltage conversion is a foundational power electronic capability: we show how to do it more compactly and effectively arxiv.org/abs/2410.13220 💡