The bright side: weather AI, women’s health, wild seeds & more

🔮Forecasting Fortune: AI’s Clear Skies Ahead

The U.S. National Weather Service, like many other federal agencies, has weathered some funding and staffing storms in recent months, with troubling implications for the accuracy of official weather reports, as well as impacts on public safety and economic well-being. Can AI save us? Kathryn Hulick’s recent article in Science News explores Aurora, Microsoft’s new machine learning model. It’s trained to predict atmospheric phenomena, from air quality to typhoon paths, and seems to be outperforming traditional computational models. 

🌡️Beyond the Barometer: AI’s Atmospheric Advantage

The promise of AI weather forecasting lies in its ability to learn from vast, complex datasets of historical weather patterns, atmospheric conditions, and even satellite imagery. Unlike physics-based models that make predictions with intricate mathematical equations and immense computational power, AI models can identify subtle, non-linear relationships and patterns with incredible speed – generating surprisingly accurate forecasts in seconds compared to hours for conventional supercomputer models.