Garrett Merz
@garrettmerz.bsky.social
Physics PhD turned AI4Science postdoc at UWisconsin-Madison Data Science Institute. Gardening, banjo, roller derby, union organizing. Empty hands and the desire to unbuild walls.
Opinions, bad jokes, etc. all mine. He/they, I guess?
Opinions, bad jokes, etc. all mine. He/they, I guess?
Reposted by Garrett Merz
An activity possesses trajectory, and, anticipating a form, trajectory anticipates an end.
- Donald Revell in “Better Unsaid: On Poetic Fragments” per the formal energy that arises from a trajectory
- Donald Revell in “Better Unsaid: On Poetic Fragments” per the formal energy that arises from a trajectory
November 14, 2025 at 11:29 PM
An activity possesses trajectory, and, anticipating a form, trajectory anticipates an end.
- Donald Revell in “Better Unsaid: On Poetic Fragments” per the formal energy that arises from a trajectory
- Donald Revell in “Better Unsaid: On Poetic Fragments” per the formal energy that arises from a trajectory
Reposted by Garrett Merz
I’ll be done aurora-posting soon.
But I wanted to add: Columbus is a big city with vibrant immigrant communities.
Word spread that you could see it from the dam, so by this substorm there were ~50 people up there with me. Shouts of joy and awe in so many languages, a memory I’ll forever treasure
But I wanted to add: Columbus is a big city with vibrant immigrant communities.
Word spread that you could see it from the dam, so by this substorm there were ~50 people up there with me. Shouts of joy and awe in so many languages, a memory I’ll forever treasure
This is my last and longest of three aurora threads, for the final substorm I saw from Columbus Ohio USA. It was by far the most brilliant and the strongest (at one point visible *south* of us)! It started ~11:30PM local time and lasted a full half-hour. Just unbelievably stunning!
1/10
1/10
November 14, 2025 at 11:55 PM
I’ll be done aurora-posting soon.
But I wanted to add: Columbus is a big city with vibrant immigrant communities.
Word spread that you could see it from the dam, so by this substorm there were ~50 people up there with me. Shouts of joy and awe in so many languages, a memory I’ll forever treasure
But I wanted to add: Columbus is a big city with vibrant immigrant communities.
Word spread that you could see it from the dam, so by this substorm there were ~50 people up there with me. Shouts of joy and awe in so many languages, a memory I’ll forever treasure
Reposted by Garrett Merz
If you’re wondering what a “least weasel” is, they absolutely live up to the name. This is the least amount of animal you can have that can still meet the bar for “is weasel”
June 2, 2025 at 6:30 AM
If you’re wondering what a “least weasel” is, they absolutely live up to the name. This is the least amount of animal you can have that can still meet the bar for “is weasel”
Reposted by Garrett Merz
Reposted by Garrett Merz
sometimes an Oxford comma can make all the difference
November 8, 2025 at 12:36 PM
sometimes an Oxford comma can make all the difference
Sat in on a really interesting talk yesterday where the speaker basically said that we *could* be building data centers to have an extremely low environmental impact- waterless cooling, solar power- but we're not doing that because the Powers that Be are racing to Beat China
November 8, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Sat in on a really interesting talk yesterday where the speaker basically said that we *could* be building data centers to have an extremely low environmental impact- waterless cooling, solar power- but we're not doing that because the Powers that Be are racing to Beat China
Reposted by Garrett Merz
The WPA is my Roman empire.
So many first-hand accounts of enslaved folks, early settlers, native Americans, etc that are so invaluable today wouldn't have been recorded with it.
I'm amazed at how we figured this out 90 years ago and then just abandoned the idea...
So many first-hand accounts of enslaved folks, early settlers, native Americans, etc that are so invaluable today wouldn't have been recorded with it.
I'm amazed at how we figured this out 90 years ago and then just abandoned the idea...
you ever think about the works progress administration? I sure do. I wish that was a thing now. I would be so glad to contribute my labor to like. A random ass local bridge
November 7, 2025 at 5:33 AM
The WPA is my Roman empire.
So many first-hand accounts of enslaved folks, early settlers, native Americans, etc that are so invaluable today wouldn't have been recorded with it.
I'm amazed at how we figured this out 90 years ago and then just abandoned the idea...
So many first-hand accounts of enslaved folks, early settlers, native Americans, etc that are so invaluable today wouldn't have been recorded with it.
I'm amazed at how we figured this out 90 years ago and then just abandoned the idea...
Paper's out!
New paper, with @rkhashmani.me @marielpettee.bsky.social @garrettmerz.bsky.social Hellen Qu. We introduce a framework for generating realistic, highly multimodal datasets with explicitly calculable mutual information. This is helpful for studying self-supervised learning
arxiv.org/abs/2510.21686
arxiv.org/abs/2510.21686
October 28, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Paper's out!
Reposted by Garrett Merz
It's striking that relatively small orgs like @carpentries.carpentries.org and @python.org are standing up for what's right, while so many much larger orgs with deeper pockets are quick to acquiesce and throw their communities under the bus.
They are pointing the way for the future of science.
They are pointing the way for the future of science.
Every time I post a picture of a seismic signal, I am using #python software. Please read this thread from @python.org (I here have screenshotted the three posts that I think contain what you need to know.)
I applaud the Python Software Foundation for taking this stand.
I applaud the Python Software Foundation for taking this stand.
October 28, 2025 at 4:47 AM
It's striking that relatively small orgs like @carpentries.carpentries.org and @python.org are standing up for what's right, while so many much larger orgs with deeper pockets are quick to acquiesce and throw their communities under the bus.
They are pointing the way for the future of science.
They are pointing the way for the future of science.
Reposted by Garrett Merz
Every time I post a picture of a seismic signal, I am using #python software. Please read this thread from @python.org (I here have screenshotted the three posts that I think contain what you need to know.)
I applaud the Python Software Foundation for taking this stand.
I applaud the Python Software Foundation for taking this stand.
October 28, 2025 at 3:53 AM
Every time I post a picture of a seismic signal, I am using #python software. Please read this thread from @python.org (I here have screenshotted the three posts that I think contain what you need to know.)
I applaud the Python Software Foundation for taking this stand.
I applaud the Python Software Foundation for taking this stand.
Reposted by Garrett Merz
Fisher meets Feynman! 🤝
We use score matching and a trick from quantum field theory to make a product-of-experts family both expressive and efficient for variational inference.
To appear as a spotlight @ NeurIPS 2025.
#NeurIPS2025 (link below)
We use score matching and a trick from quantum field theory to make a product-of-experts family both expressive and efficient for variational inference.
To appear as a spotlight @ NeurIPS 2025.
#NeurIPS2025 (link below)
October 27, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Fisher meets Feynman! 🤝
We use score matching and a trick from quantum field theory to make a product-of-experts family both expressive and efficient for variational inference.
To appear as a spotlight @ NeurIPS 2025.
#NeurIPS2025 (link below)
We use score matching and a trick from quantum field theory to make a product-of-experts family both expressive and efficient for variational inference.
To appear as a spotlight @ NeurIPS 2025.
#NeurIPS2025 (link below)
Reposted by Garrett Merz
the Muppets have been real quiet since the Louvre heist
October 19, 2025 at 10:19 PM
the Muppets have been real quiet since the Louvre heist
Reposted by Garrett Merz
October 23, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Superconducting Supercollider Funding Cancelled
In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand
I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.
I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.
October 20, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Superconducting Supercollider Funding Cancelled
Reposted by Garrett Merz
Two new Atomic Sonnets in Cream City Review :: Whenever I think of the element Europium, I think of Ultravox’s “Vienna” and is dedicated to my dear friend Jared Harel. As the element Indium, ALLEGEDLY it gives a high-pitched “scream” when bent, o the soft girl era she is.
October 20, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Two new Atomic Sonnets in Cream City Review :: Whenever I think of the element Europium, I think of Ultravox’s “Vienna” and is dedicated to my dear friend Jared Harel. As the element Indium, ALLEGEDLY it gives a high-pitched “scream” when bent, o the soft girl era she is.
Reposted by Garrett Merz
And now UVA!! www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...
MIT, Brown, Penn, USC and now UVA have all rejected the loyalty oath “compact” for “excellence” in higher ed. Five of nine!
(I wonder if this decision was final before today’s planned meeting www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...)
MIT, Brown, Penn, USC and now UVA have all rejected the loyalty oath “compact” for “excellence” in higher ed. Five of nine!
(I wonder if this decision was final before today’s planned meeting www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...)
U.Va. rejects Trump administration Compact for Academic Excellence
The University has rejected the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” which he received from the White House and Department of Education Oct. 1, according to a community statement rel...
www.cavalierdaily.com
October 17, 2025 at 9:05 PM
And now UVA!! www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...
MIT, Brown, Penn, USC and now UVA have all rejected the loyalty oath “compact” for “excellence” in higher ed. Five of nine!
(I wonder if this decision was final before today’s planned meeting www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...)
MIT, Brown, Penn, USC and now UVA have all rejected the loyalty oath “compact” for “excellence” in higher ed. Five of nine!
(I wonder if this decision was final before today’s planned meeting www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...)
Question for the anglophiles- if Prince Andrew stops using the "Duke of York" title, does York still *have* a Duke?
October 17, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Question for the anglophiles- if Prince Andrew stops using the "Duke of York" title, does York still *have* a Duke?
Reposted by Garrett Merz
a common buckeye butterfly on Symphyotrichum grandiflorum
October 16, 2025 at 11:28 PM
a common buckeye butterfly on Symphyotrichum grandiflorum
Reposted by Garrett Merz
great now I want an ancient baptismal jacuzzi for the yard
October 17, 2025 at 1:12 AM
great now I want an ancient baptismal jacuzzi for the yard
Reposted by Garrett Merz
Reposted by Garrett Merz
"why am i so goddamn tired all the time lately" wonders guy who has wildly overburdened themselves with activities and obligations
October 12, 2025 at 11:20 PM
"why am i so goddamn tired all the time lately" wonders guy who has wildly overburdened themselves with activities and obligations
Cool fact I just learned: the CMS detector at CERN (@cmsexperiment.bsky.social) sits on the site of a 4th-century Roman farm that was rediscovered during the excavation of the cavern!
www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/may-...
www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/may-...
An LHC detector's old Roman roots
Particle physicists probe uncharted territory for remnants of the early universe. But that is supposed to occur after their experiments turn on.
www.symmetrymagazine.org
October 8, 2025 at 4:50 AM
Cool fact I just learned: the CMS detector at CERN (@cmsexperiment.bsky.social) sits on the site of a 4th-century Roman farm that was rediscovered during the excavation of the cavern!
www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/may-...
www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/may-...
Legitimately starting to think @francescahongwi.bsky.social is Wisconsin's Zohran. Met her earlier this week and have not felt this fired up to go knock doors for someone since the Bernie campaign.
October 2, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Legitimately starting to think @francescahongwi.bsky.social is Wisconsin's Zohran. Met her earlier this week and have not felt this fired up to go knock doors for someone since the Bernie campaign.
Reposted by Garrett Merz
OTD in 1847, 178 years ago, America's first woman astronomer, Maria Mitchell, discovered a comet. She was presented with a gold medal for her accomplishment by the king of Denmark.
#WomanAstro
#WomeninSTEM
#WomeninScience
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/1847_...
#WomanAstro
#WomeninSTEM
#WomeninScience
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/1847_...
C/1847 T1 (Mitchell) - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
October 1, 2025 at 2:01 PM
OTD in 1847, 178 years ago, America's first woman astronomer, Maria Mitchell, discovered a comet. She was presented with a gold medal for her accomplishment by the king of Denmark.
#WomanAstro
#WomeninSTEM
#WomeninScience
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/1847_...
#WomanAstro
#WomeninSTEM
#WomeninScience
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/C/1847_...
Reposted by Garrett Merz
"the one year clock" my invention from a few years ago
October 1, 2025 at 2:28 PM
"the one year clock" my invention from a few years ago