John F Wu
@jwuphysics.bsky.social
Tenure-track astronomer working on galaxies, machine learning, and AI for scientific discovery. Opinions my own. He/him.
Website: https://jwuphysics.github.io/
Website: https://jwuphysics.github.io/
Reposted by John F Wu
this is what the internet is for
Just watched the new Knives Out and I think it's really important you know that the scene in the Seminary's Gym is filmed in the same place Rick Astley filmed the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up.
I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
December 29, 2025 at 1:50 PM
this is what the internet is for
Finally saw Sinners. 8.5/10
Incredible film; acting, soundtrack, screenwriting, all extraordinarily directed and executed. Subversive, touching, and comedic at just the right times.
Incredible film; acting, soundtrack, screenwriting, all extraordinarily directed and executed. Subversive, touching, and comedic at just the right times.
December 23, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Finally saw Sinners. 8.5/10
Incredible film; acting, soundtrack, screenwriting, all extraordinarily directed and executed. Subversive, touching, and comedic at just the right times.
Incredible film; acting, soundtrack, screenwriting, all extraordinarily directed and executed. Subversive, touching, and comedic at just the right times.
astro-software-lore.org/article/STSc...
Some juicy #AstroSci Python lore! H/t to Karl Gordon for sharing this.
Some juicy #AstroSci Python lore! H/t to Karl Gordon for sharing this.
History of the use of Python at STScI for science software
Disclaimer: The following represents my opinions and recollections only; in no way does it pretend to represent the official or unofficial views of STSCI, or that of any other individuals. History of ...
astro-software-lore.org
December 22, 2025 at 12:37 PM
astro-software-lore.org/article/STSc...
Some juicy #AstroSci Python lore! H/t to Karl Gordon for sharing this.
Some juicy #AstroSci Python lore! H/t to Karl Gordon for sharing this.
Reposted by John F Wu
Reposting with alt text because I felt it too important no to share
December 20, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Reposting with alt text because I felt it too important no to share
Reposted by John F Wu
The next edition of the NLP+CSS will be at ACL 2026! It includes an open-ended shared task (work with the Opioid Industry Documents Archive) with travel grants as prizes!
✨The NLP+CSS workshop is returning to ACL 2026!✨
And this year, we have a new shared task with prizes!
Website/CfP: sites.google.com/site/nlpandc...
Deadlines: March 5 (direct), March 24 (pre-reviewed ARR)
#NLProc #CompSocialSci #ComputationalSocialScience #ACL2026NLP
@aclmeeting.bsky.social
And this year, we have a new shared task with prizes!
Website/CfP: sites.google.com/site/nlpandc...
Deadlines: March 5 (direct), March 24 (pre-reviewed ARR)
#NLProc #CompSocialSci #ComputationalSocialScience #ACL2026NLP
@aclmeeting.bsky.social
NLP+CSS Workshops
https://www.pexels.com/photo/group-hand-fist-bump-1068523/
sites.google.com
December 18, 2025 at 9:41 PM
The next edition of the NLP+CSS will be at ACL 2026! It includes an open-ended shared task (work with the Opioid Industry Documents Archive) with travel grants as prizes!
arxiv.org/abs/2512.14575
A useful paper to raise whenever people rehash arguments from 2022 about how LLMs are stochastic parrots and can't do anything new or facilitate discovery.
New proof of an open problem in mathematics
A useful paper to raise whenever people rehash arguments from 2022 about how LLMs are stochastic parrots and can't do anything new or facilitate discovery.
New proof of an open problem in mathematics
Extremal descendant integrals on moduli spaces of curves: An inequality discovered and proved in collaboration with AI
For the pure $ψ$-class intersection numbers $D(\textbf{e})=\langle τ_{e_1} \cdots τ_{e_n} \rangle_g$ on the moduli space $\overline{\mathcal{M}}_{g,n}$ of stable curves, we determine for which choices...
arxiv.org
December 17, 2025 at 10:12 PM
arxiv.org/abs/2512.14575
A useful paper to raise whenever people rehash arguments from 2022 about how LLMs are stochastic parrots and can't do anything new or facilitate discovery.
New proof of an open problem in mathematics
A useful paper to raise whenever people rehash arguments from 2022 about how LLMs are stochastic parrots and can't do anything new or facilitate discovery.
New proof of an open problem in mathematics
What you have to understand about millennials is that we grew up with "Head On: apply directly to the forehead" and we've never recovered from that
December 17, 2025 at 12:27 PM
What you have to understand about millennials is that we grew up with "Head On: apply directly to the forehead" and we've never recovered from that
Reposted by John F Wu
In my case, this painstaking labor in the process through which the science gets done. Science isn't measuring stuff in a lab. It's thinking deeply, extracting the heart of idea from the soup of thoughts running through my mind, molding it, and finding a way to communicate that idea to others.
December 16, 2025 at 11:46 PM
In my case, this painstaking labor in the process through which the science gets done. Science isn't measuring stuff in a lab. It's thinking deeply, extracting the heart of idea from the soup of thoughts running through my mind, molding it, and finding a way to communicate that idea to others.
Jenny Wong-Leung [...] warns that the findings show democratic nations risk losing “hard-won, long-term advantages in cutting-edge science and research” in a range of essential sectors [.]
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
China leads research in 90% of crucial technologies — a dramatic shift this century
The United States tops the remaining areas in an assessment of 74 technologies.
www.nature.com
December 16, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Jenny Wong-Leung [...] warns that the findings show democratic nations risk losing “hard-won, long-term advantages in cutting-edge science and research” in a range of essential sectors [.]
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Flu A this year is wild. Schools in Baltimore are half empty. Both my kids and I have/had 104-105 fever. Take care of yourselves out there!
December 16, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Flu A this year is wild. Schools in Baltimore are half empty. Both my kids and I have/had 104-105 fever. Take care of yourselves out there!
Reposted by John F Wu
The anti-Semitic mass shooting in Australia will cause a national conversation and policy change. We know this because the 1996 Port Arthur massacre led to significant restrictions on guns.
The shooting at Brown will do nothing. We know this because it occurred on the anniversary of Sandy Hook.
The shooting at Brown will do nothing. We know this because it occurred on the anniversary of Sandy Hook.
‘I heard 40, 50 shots’: Witnesses fled Bondi Beach as gunmen targeted Jewish event
‘I heard 40, 50 shots’: Witnesses fled Bondi Beach as gunmen targeted Jewish event
Gunshots ripped through a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, killing at least 12 people
www.irishtimes.com
December 14, 2025 at 1:48 PM
The anti-Semitic mass shooting in Australia will cause a national conversation and policy change. We know this because the 1996 Port Arthur massacre led to significant restrictions on guns.
The shooting at Brown will do nothing. We know this because it occurred on the anniversary of Sandy Hook.
The shooting at Brown will do nothing. We know this because it occurred on the anniversary of Sandy Hook.
First snowy day in Baltimore!
December 14, 2025 at 1:42 PM
First snowy day in Baltimore!
arxiv.org/abs/2512.09174
New satellites in a compact dwarf group, discovered in HI, down to 10^6 M_HI/M_sun.
Very interesting to study these satellite systems surrounding LMC-like hosts!
New satellites in a compact dwarf group, discovered in HI, down to 10^6 M_HI/M_sun.
Very interesting to study these satellite systems surrounding LMC-like hosts!
December 12, 2025 at 12:41 PM
arxiv.org/abs/2512.09174
New satellites in a compact dwarf group, discovered in HI, down to 10^6 M_HI/M_sun.
Very interesting to study these satellite systems surrounding LMC-like hosts!
New satellites in a compact dwarf group, discovered in HI, down to 10^6 M_HI/M_sun.
Very interesting to study these satellite systems surrounding LMC-like hosts!
Reposted by John F Wu
I love when people train transformers to do math problems, because the outcomes illustrated so succinctly how transformers identify patterns and where and why they are making mistakes
What happens when you train a transformer on one of math's most infamous unsolved puzzles and then study how it fails?
"Learning Collatz - The Mother of all Rabbit Holes"
axiommath.ai/territory/le...
"Learning Collatz - The Mother of all Rabbit Holes"
axiommath.ai/territory/le...
December 11, 2025 at 5:52 AM
I love when people train transformers to do math problems, because the outcomes illustrated so succinctly how transformers identify patterns and where and why they are making mistakes
Garamond, Baskerville, and Nunito semibold.
The question is not “Times New Roman” (boring) or “Calibri” (also boring). The real question goes like this: why are you all not using “Garamond”? #TeamGaramond
December 10, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Garamond, Baskerville, and Nunito semibold.
Reposted by John F Wu
I'm happy to report that "Scenario 2" won't be necessary, as NASA has just communicated to us that SciX funding will continue in 2026 (albeit at a reduced level). Therefore, we will not be forcing astronomers to leave ADS, but rather develop a plan that allows a longer transition.
December 9, 2025 at 5:20 PM
I'm happy to report that "Scenario 2" won't be necessary, as NASA has just communicated to us that SciX funding will continue in 2026 (albeit at a reduced level). Therefore, we will not be forcing astronomers to leave ADS, but rather develop a plan that allows a longer transition.
Reposted by John F Wu
In the era of LLMs, what does learning look like? What happens when are overconfident in our understanding due to AI sycophancy? Is it even useful to use LLMs for education without outsourcing our thinking?
New blog post: jwuphysics.github.io/blog/2025/12...
New blog post: jwuphysics.github.io/blog/2025/12...
Learning with LLMs
AI is here, and its impacts on education cannot be overstated. Let’s put aside the issues of cheating; I assume that you want to learn, perhaps with the assistance of LLMs if they are actually helpful...
jwuphysics.github.io
December 5, 2025 at 11:09 PM
In the era of LLMs, what does learning look like? What happens when are overconfident in our understanding due to AI sycophancy? Is it even useful to use LLMs for education without outsourcing our thinking?
New blog post: jwuphysics.github.io/blog/2025/12...
New blog post: jwuphysics.github.io/blog/2025/12...
In the era of LLMs, what does learning look like? What happens when are overconfident in our understanding due to AI sycophancy? Is it even useful to use LLMs for education without outsourcing our thinking?
New blog post: jwuphysics.github.io/blog/2025/12...
New blog post: jwuphysics.github.io/blog/2025/12...
Learning with LLMs
AI is here, and its impacts on education cannot be overstated. Let’s put aside the issues of cheating; I assume that you want to learn, perhaps with the assistance of LLMs if they are actually helpful...
jwuphysics.github.io
December 5, 2025 at 11:09 PM
In the era of LLMs, what does learning look like? What happens when are overconfident in our understanding due to AI sycophancy? Is it even useful to use LLMs for education without outsourcing our thinking?
New blog post: jwuphysics.github.io/blog/2025/12...
New blog post: jwuphysics.github.io/blog/2025/12...
Ever wished that galaxy spectral energy distribution fitting actually made use of galaxy morphology? See the ML4PS paper/poster led by Mikaeel Yunus at NeurIPS tomorrow!
Also check out the paper on arXiv: arxiv.org/abs/2512.05078!
Also check out the paper on arXiv: arxiv.org/abs/2512.05078!
December 5, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Ever wished that galaxy spectral energy distribution fitting actually made use of galaxy morphology? See the ML4PS paper/poster led by Mikaeel Yunus at NeurIPS tomorrow!
Also check out the paper on arXiv: arxiv.org/abs/2512.05078!
Also check out the paper on arXiv: arxiv.org/abs/2512.05078!
Reposted by John F Wu
A note on learning physics ⚛️ for starting PhD students:
At the risk of saying something completely useless because everyone has it worked out
There is no magic trick, your classmates *may* be faster than you, but they are still studying as long as they need to and you are quite capable of the same
At the risk of saying something completely useless because everyone has it worked out
There is no magic trick, your classmates *may* be faster than you, but they are still studying as long as they need to and you are quite capable of the same
December 4, 2025 at 9:18 PM
A note on learning physics ⚛️ for starting PhD students:
At the risk of saying something completely useless because everyone has it worked out
There is no magic trick, your classmates *may* be faster than you, but they are still studying as long as they need to and you are quite capable of the same
At the risk of saying something completely useless because everyone has it worked out
There is no magic trick, your classmates *may* be faster than you, but they are still studying as long as they need to and you are quite capable of the same
Ken Liu's The Literomancer just about broke me
December 4, 2025 at 2:50 AM
Ken Liu's The Literomancer just about broke me
Reposted by John F Wu
1/ 🌀 New paper alert! We introduce Dingo-T1, a flexible transformer-based deep learning model for gravitational-wave (GW) data analysis. It adapts to different detector & frequency settings, improving inference efficiency and flexibility
🚀 #AI #MachineLearning #Physics #Astronomy #AcademicSky
🚀 #AI #MachineLearning #Physics #Astronomy #AcademicSky
December 3, 2025 at 5:21 PM
1/ 🌀 New paper alert! We introduce Dingo-T1, a flexible transformer-based deep learning model for gravitational-wave (GW) data analysis. It adapts to different detector & frequency settings, improving inference efficiency and flexibility
🚀 #AI #MachineLearning #Physics #Astronomy #AcademicSky
🚀 #AI #MachineLearning #Physics #Astronomy #AcademicSky
How do people productively use Discord for collaborations? It's pure chaos to me. Am I just old?
December 3, 2025 at 4:40 PM
How do people productively use Discord for collaborations? It's pure chaos to me. Am I just old?
Reposted by John F Wu
actually gemini is kinda good
December 3, 2025 at 1:50 AM
actually gemini is kinda good